PRESS RELEASE
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL ARKANSAS
COLLEGE OF FINE ARTS AND COMMUNICATION
Contact: Dr. Gayle Seymour, (501) 450-3295; gayles@uca.edu
ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE CERUTI STRING QUARTET SET TO PERFORM SEPT. 30
By Kendra Beattie
College of Fine Arts and Communication Media Office
CONWAY — The extensively trained and internationally recognized Ceruti String Quartet will be artists in residence at the University of Central Arkansas and will perform in Reynolds Performance Hall on Sept. 30 at 7:30 p.m.
In addition to the free public performance, the chamber music group will conduct a series of masterclasses for both UCA and Conway High music students beginning Sept. 29. Several UCA and Conway High students will perform in the Reynolds lobby at 7 p.m. prior to the quartet’s performance.
“We are very excited about bringing musicians of such high artistic caliber to the community,” Associate Dean of the UCA College of Fine Arts and Communication Dr. Gayle Seymour said. “We really hope the public will come to Reynolds [for the performance]. They’ll be pleasantly surprised how engaging and interesting four musicians can be.”
The Ceruti String Quartet, all faculty members at the Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music at the University of Memphis, is composed of Marcin Arendt (violin), Timothy Shiu (violin), Lenny Schranze (viola) and Seth Russell (cello).
The group has performed in recitals at renowned venues such as Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall and the Goethe Institut in New York City, as well as internationally at the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea and the Teatro Santa Isabel in Recife, Brazil. They have also been featured artists for the Memphis Chamber Music Society; the Bechstein Hall Concert series in Little Rock and both the Fine Arts Center and Governor’s School for the Arts in Greenville, S.C.
The quartet was invited to be artists in residence at UCA for its reputation to provide performances variously described as “spirited, richly colorful and incisive,” but also in coordination with ArtsFest.
The Ceruti String Quartet’s residency will coincide with ArtsFest, Conway’s weeklong celebration of various art forms, strives to connect with the Conway community and push the arts outside typical boundaries. The quartet fits in with ArtsFest’s desire to involve Conway’s artists of all skill levels with experienced professionals.
“Unlike an orchestra or band, there is no conductor [in a string quartet]. They have to listen to and understand each other…and start and stop at the same time,” Seymour said. “I think that’s a lot of what these master classes will be about.”
There will be a public presentation for UCA students in the Snow Fine Arts Recital Hall on Sept. 29 from 1:40–2:30 p.m. The String Quartet masterclass will follow the presentation in Snow Fine Arts from 2:40-4:10 p.m. with a String Ensemble rehearsal from 4:20-5:35 p.m. The solo instrument masterclass will be from 7-9 p.m. and followed by a discussion with students from 9-9:45 p.m. The Conway High masterclasses will be held from 11 a.m.-noon in the West Campus Band Room.
The Artist in Residence program is funded by UCA’s arts fee and is administered by the College of Fine Arts and Communication. For more information about the program, call the Office of the Dean, College of Fine Arts and Communication, at (501) 450-3293 or e-mail jdmiller@uca.edu.
The UCA College of Fine Arts and Communication includes the Departments of Art, Communication, Mass Communication and Theatre, Music and Writing. The college’s primary mission is the preparation of the next generation of artists, educators and communicators. For more information about CFAC, visit www.uca.edu/cfac or call (501) 450-3293.
-30-
