APPLETON, WIS. — The holidays are still several weeks away, but eight Lawrence University students will get a head start on them by unwrapping a unique and important gift.
Four student soloists and members of the Viridian String Quartet will debut four new instruments commissioned for the Lawrence Conservatory of Music in a celebratory concert Friday, Nov. 14 at 8 p.m. in Lawrence’s Harper Hall.
Built by master luthier Douglas Cox of West Brattleboro, Vt., the four instruments — two violins, a viola and a cello — were generously commissioned by Allen Greenberg, a music lover from Chevy Chase, Md. Greenberg visited Lawrence in 2006 with his son, a prospective student and string musician. While his son wound up attending another college, Greenberg was so impressed with Lawrence, he decided to fund the instruments construction and donate them to the college.
“These instruments are a fantastic gift and will become a valuable resource for the conservatory,” said Matthew Michelic, associate professor of music who teaches viola at Lawrence. “Douglas Cox is a very well known and accomplished violin maker, and there are prominent musicians endorsing and performing on his instruments. The instruments he made for Lawrence will be well used and well loved for generations to come.”
The Cox instruments join a small collection of other outstanding string instruments owned by the college, including a 1686 Guarnerius violin, which are used by faculty and students on special occasions.
Friday’s concert will feature the instruments individually and as a quartet. Willie McClellan and David Rubin will open the concert with violin pieces by Bach and Bloch, respectively. Violist Sarah Vosper will perform Alexander Glazunov’s “Elegy, Opus 44” and Lindsey Crabb will play a Brahms’ cello sonata.
The Viridian String Quartet — Danielle Simandl, violin, Katie Ekberg, violin, Sarah Bellmore, viola and Max Hero, cello — winners of last March’s WPR-sponsored Neale-Silva Young Artists competition in Madison, close the concert with movements of masterworks for quartet by Haydn and Beethoven.
On Wednesday, Nov. 12, Cox will conduct a string instrument making presentation at 6 p.m. in Harper Hall, discussing the techniques and materials he uses in building violins, violas and cellos to best suit the unique requirements of each musician. Both the presentation and concert are free and open to the public.
