Minneapolis rehearsals,

The Q is in on there way to Minneapolis for 9 days of rehearsing. It has been some time since we last have played together. I'm excited to see how everything works out. We have a lot to do in just a few days. We have to put together as much music as we can, have a few coachings with some people in the area, play a concert, take pictures, and hopefully have some fun.

Dani and Joel been to Minneapolis a few times for quartet concerts, but Rebecca hasn't been here yet. I'm sure we'll show her the Mall of America and other places. I think I may even grill for them for one of our meals. We'll be sure to take pictures of our time here and I'll post them up in a few days.

Lucas

New Website

The quartet just put up a new website that we are very excited about. We figured that with the 2nd violin change we should try to make a whole new look. We are getting some more professional pictures done for the website in June by a very talented photographer in the Twin Cities, but for now we have some shots we took in our concert tour in Puerto Rico.

Other than the website we are metting in June for 10 days to learn our new programs. That will probably be a stressful 10 days but I know we will all enjoy playing great music together. Also we will get to learn one of my personal favorite pieces, the Ravel String Quartet. The quartet got a glimpse of impressionism last year with the Turina, but now we are taking a risk and learning a very big work, that everyone knows. I know it will be a fun musical journey.

Next year we are in the process or having a pretty busy concert season for the year. Last year we had some unforseen circumstances that didn't allow us to perform as much as we planned on, however we hope to forge ahead and start performing seriously in many different places. We'll keep you all posted with concert schedules as we get them confirmed.

Lucas

what's new with the Q

So the quartet is working on many things right now. On a sad note, our lovely 2nd violinist decided that it was time to part with the quartet to pursue other musical ventures. She will be missed and hopefully the replacement we find will be able to fill the shoes. The rest of the concerts for the year has been filled by Rebecca Jackson. We're very excited to see what she brings to the group and hopefully will allow us to grow.

All the plans are finally done for our March concert. It was much more difficult that it should be, but it's done. We decided to move our Mexico concerts to May, but it worked out because we added two more concert from Puerto Rico. Along with playing in Mayaguez we will also be playing in San German, and San Juan. I'm very excited to see this island a little more and maybe even have a chance to relax on the beach hopefully.

We are in the midst of finishing up our concert schedule for the year and start planning our summer schedule. As of right now we will have a couple concerts in the midwest this summer and the rest of summer is in the making. We'll keep you all posted.

On a smaller note in Minneapolis it was -36 degrees, that's right there is a minus sign in front of that number.

Miami Lakes Concert Series

The quartet just got back from their concert in Miami Flordia. It was a very successful journey. We rehearsed like crazy to get our program fully together. Basically we rehearsed, ate, and slept until Sunday night. I was suprised by the good turnout at the concert, considering it was super bowl sunday. Everyone seemed very pleased after the concert and the quartet was happy with their first performance with this new program. Hopefully it will just get better the more we play. Also, for what it's worth, I was very impressed by the organization of this concert series. There were many ads in newspapers and many people worked really hard to make the night the most successful.

So the quartet is about to leave for there first concert of the season. We are going to be performing in Miami Flordia. I am very excited to see all my friends again and am excited to play great music with these people. I think it will be a little stressful, but I know the product is going to be good. When I return I will post some pictures and give a post about the trip. Hope everyone is doing well.

This is the Quartet's first post. This is just so people that would be interested can see more behind the scenes info about the quartet.

Currently this year we have just been organizing the future season. We started by having rehearsal in NY. Currently we are working on our future concerts. The first which is with a chamber series in Miami in Feburary. We are working on an exciting program for this concert. I will consist of Smetana quartet in e minor, Prokofiev quartet no 2, and Turina, La Oracion del Torero. It will be a lot of folk music.

Other things we are working on is we are about the be signed by JML records and will probably record are first fully produced album this summer. I'll keep everyone posted on that.

Also, our website is trying to be updated but it's hard around the holiday seasons. Hopefully it will be fully updated before the new year.

Vols Quartet