The Blair String Quartet is the

string quartet The term string quartet can refer to either a type of musical composition or a group of four people who play them. Many composers from the mid-18th century onwards wrote string quartets. The associated musical ensemble consists of two violinist ...

- in-residence at the

Blair School of Music The Blair School of Music, located in Nashville, Tennessee, provides a conservatory-caliber undergraduate education in music performance, composition, or integrated music studies (theory and history) within the context of a major research universi ...

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...

, , consisting of violinists Cornelia Heard and Stephen Miahky, violist Christina McGann and cellist Felix Wang. They perform frequently at Blair, and have also performed at the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The librar ...

, the

Kennedy Center The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (formally known as the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, and commonly referred to as the Kennedy Center) is the United States National Cultural Center, located on the Potom ...

, and the

Weill Recital Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th and 57th Streets. Designed by architect William Burnet Tuthill and built by ...

.. Accessed: 29 July 2018. In 1980 the Blair Quartet consisted of violinists Christian Teal and Lee Joiner, violist Kathryn Plummer, and cellist David Vanderkool as members. Prior members also include cellist Grace Mihi Bahng.

Stephen Clapp Stephen Clapp (November 27, 1939 – January 26, 2014) was a violinist and Dean Emeritus of the Juilliard School. Education Clapp earned the B.M degree from the Oberlin Conservatory and the M.S. degree from the Juilliard School. He was a student ...

was lead violinist from 1967 to 1972. Their repertoire ranges from traditional classical music, including

Mendelssohn Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), born and widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions include sym ...

Debussy (Achille) Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionism in music, Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most infl ...

, and

Ginastera Alberto Evaristo Ginastera (; April 11, 1916June 25, 1983) was an Argentinian composer of classical music. He is considered to be one of the most important 20th-century classical composers of the Americas. Biography Ginastera was born in Bue ...

, to

contemporary classical music Contemporary classical music is classical music composed close to the present day. At the beginning of the 21st century, it commonly referred to the post-1945 modern forms of post-tonal music after the death of Anton Webern, and included se ...

, including

John Harbison John Harris Harbison (born December 20, 1938) is an American composer, known for his symphonies, operas, and large choral works. Life John Harris Harbison was born on December 20, 1938, in Orange, New Jersey, to the historian Elmore Harris Harb ...

George Rochberg George Rochberg (July 5, 1918May 29, 2005) was an American composer of contemporary classical music. Long a serial composer, Rochberg abandoned the practice following the death of his teenage son in 1964; he claimed this compositional technique ...

, and

George Tsontakis George Tsontakis (born Astoria, Queens, New York City, October 24, 1951) is an American composer and conductor. Early life and education He was born in New York City, and is of Greek descent. Tsontakis studied composition with Hugo Weisgall and ...

. They have also worked with

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a majo ...

banjoist

Bela Fleck Bela may refer to: Places Asia *Bela Pratapgarh, a town in Pratapgarh District, Uttar Pradesh, India *Bela, a small village near Bhandara, Maharashtra, India *Bela, another name for the biblical city Zoara *Bela, Dang, in Nepal *Bela, Janakpur, ...

and bluegrass bassist

Edgar Meyer Edgar Meyer (born November 24, 1960) is an American bassist and composer. His styles include classical, bluegrass, newgrass, and jazz. He has won five Grammy Awards and been nominated seven times. Meyer is a member of the Telluride Bluegras ...

. Meyer and Fleck composed a Quintet for Banjo and String Quartet (1984) together for performance with the Blair Quartet.

Michael Hersch Michael Nathaniel Hersch (born June 25, 1971) is an American composer and pianist. Biography Early life and musical education Born in Washington, D.C., and raised in Reston, Virginia, Hersch was introduced to classical music at the age of 1 ...

's piece ''Images from a Closed Ward'' (2010) was commissioned by the Blair Quartet, who premiered the work and recorded it. They commissioned and premiered

Daniel Bernard Roumain Daniel Bernard Roumain (known by his initials, DBR; born 1970) is a classically trained composer, performer, violinist, and band-leader, whose work combines classical music with jazz, hip-hop and rock. Composer In September 2010, ''Dancers, Drea ...

's String Quartet no. 1: ''X'' (1993), dedicated to

Malcolm X Malcolm X (born Malcolm Little, later Malik el-Shabazz; May 19, 1925 – February 21, 1965) was an American Muslim minister and human rights activist who was a prominent figure during the civil rights movement. A spokesman for the Nation of ...

.McDonald, Anthony; ed. (2012). ''A Catalog of Music Written in Honor of Martin Luther King, Jr'', p.70. Scarecrow Press. .

Discography

*''Ginastera: String Quartet No. 1 and

Proto Proto or PROTO may refer to: Language * Proto-, an English prefix meaning "first" Media * ''Proto'' (magazine), an American science magazine *Radio Proto in Cyprus Music * ''Proto'' (Holly Herndon album), 2019 * ''Proto'' (Leo O'Kelly a ...

: String Quartet No. 1'' (1979, Red Mark RM 3105) *''Quintet For Piano And Strings and Quartet No. 3'' (1980, Varèse Sarabande),

Roy Harris Roy Ellsworth Harris (February 12, 1898 – October 1, 1979) was an American composer. He wrote music on American subjects, and is best known for his Symphony No. 3. Life Harris was born in Chandler, Oklahoma on February 12, 1898. His ancest ...

*''From Mozart to Ravel'' (1995, Warner Bros.), various, including

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...

and

Ravel Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composers rejected the term. In ...

*''Charles Ives: String Quartets'' (2006, Naxos), Charles Ives *''Images from a Closed Ward'' (2014, Innova Records #884), Michael Hersch *''Quintet for Banjo and String Quartet'', Meyer and Fleck, featured on the PBS series '' Lonesome Pine Special''

References

External links

Blair String Quartet
, ''Vanderbilt.edu''. American string quartets Contemporary classical music ensembles Musical groups established in 1967 {{US-band-stub