The Harney County Arts in Education Foundation (HCAEF) will present the Raphael Spiro Quartet (RSQ) in concert at 7pm, Wednesday, October 12 at the Harney County Church of the Nazarene (311 Roe Davis Ave), in Hines.
The concert is the main event for HCAEF’s eighth annual Evening to Celebrate The Arts. RSQ will give an educational workshop at Henry L. Slater Elementary in Burns the following morning.
RSQ was formed in 2012 as a memorial to the late Raphael Spiro (1905-2000), when the three upper string players learned at a chamber music gathering that each of them had had Spiro as their principal violin teacher. RSQ performs formal recitals, gives educational workshops for a range of audiences, contributes to local community outreach programs and is available for weddings and other celebrations.
Meet the Quartet
Violinist Irene Gadeholt studied with Spiro and Michael Foxman in Portland, and in her youth studied with Max Winder of the Boston Symphony. She was concertmaster and soloist with the Portland Junior Symphony (now Portland Youth Philharmonic) and a featured soloist with the Portland State University orchestra as a student. Gadeholt performed many seasons as a member of the Oregon Symphony and has held posts of assistant concertmaster with the Portland Opera, Oregon Ballet Theatre, the West Coast Chamber Orchestra, and guest concertmaster of the Newport Symphony.
Violinist Mary Ann Coggins Kaza studied with Spiro in Portland and with Louis Krasner. She has done thousands of performances during her 42 years with the Oregon Symphony including concerts at the Hollywood Bowl and Carnegie Hall. She has performed with the Portland Opera and Oregon Ballet Theatre, West Coast Chamber Orchestra, Little Orchestra of Portland, and with the former Kaza String Quartet.
Violist Sharon Eng studied with Spiro, as well as with William Lincer and Paul Doktor at Juilliard. A member of Classical Nuances for over 20 years, she has performed at the United Nations, Athens Opera House, Australia’s National Museum, Seoul’s Performing Arts Center, and the Sultan’s family in Kuwait. She played in the American Ballet Theatre and NYC Opera orchestras, and toured China twice with the Polish Sinfonietta. She is principal violist with Bravo! Northwest, co-founded Madrona Viola Duo and conducts the Oregon ProArte Youth Chamber Orchestra.
Cellist Gayle Budd O’Grady is currently a member of the Oregon Symphony. During her tenure in Portland, she performed with the orchestras of the Portland Opera, Oregon Ballet Theatre, the Portland Chamber Orchestra and the West Coast Chamber Orchestra. O’Grady has been a past member of the Aurora String Trio, HTR Piano Trio with the late violinist Cline Otey, and currently with the Tapestry String Quartet. She was a student of Ira Lehn in Santa Barbara, and later with Gabor Rejto at the Music Academy of the West.
The festive evening culminates with a reception and an art show by the Burns and Crane High School art departments.
Admission is free, with a suggested donation of $10 per person. All proceeds will benefit the development of the Harney County Performing Arts and Education Center.