Providence String Quartet   

Based on the permanent residency of the Providence String Quartet, Community MusicWorks is a “revolutionary organization” (The New Yorker) that builds long-term learning and mentoring relationships between children and professional musicians in the West End and South Side neighborhoods of Providence, Rhode Island.

                                                                                                                                         Photo by Sandor Bodo

In addition to being presented by Community MusicWorks, Rhode Island Chamber Music Concerts, University of Rhode Island's “Great Performances” series, the Jamestown Chamber Music Series, and the Grafton Chamber Music Series in Massachusetts have presented the Providence String Quartet in recent seasons. They performed with the Borromeo String Quartet at The RISD Museum of Art in 2003, returning to the Museum for performances with pianist Jonathan Biss in 2004 and cellist Michael Reynolds (of the Muir String Quartet) in 2006. They appeared in collaboration with the Turtle Island String Quartet at the Columbus Theatre in 2004.

Other highlights of recent seasons include a benefit concert for Amnesty International at the Longy School of Music in Cambridge, MA, a collaboration with cellist Matt Haimovitz, and “Consent to Gravity,” a collaboration with the Island Moving Company that traveled to the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles.

Along with regular performances at the West End Community Center, other local venues include performances and demonstrations at the John Carter Brown Library, The RISD Museum of Art, Providence Athenaeum, Brown University's Alumnae Hall, Providence City Hall, Rhode Island State House, the Carriage House Stage, Bell Street Chapel, the Washington Park Branch Library, The Metropolitan Regional Career and Technical Center, Community Preparatory School, Paul Cuffee School, the Vartan Gregorian School, CVS Highlander Charter School, San Miguel School, and Hasbro Childrens Hospital.

To purchase a Providence String Quartet CD, click here.

To view photos of the Providence String Quartet and their students in action, click here.

For booking information, please call the Community MusicWorks office at (401) 861-5650.

Providence Quartet Members

	Jesse Holstein, violinist, attended the Oberlin Conservatory of Music before moving to Boston to complete his graduate studies with James Buswell at the New England Conservatory. He is an active recitalist, orchestral, and chamber musician, and serves as Concertmaster of the New Bedford Symphony. Recently, Jesse gave the Northeast premier of the John Cooper violin concerto and was invited to join the faculty of the Apple Hill Center for Chamber Music. In 2005, he traveled to London to premier a new work for violin and piano composed for him by Rick Beaudoin and appeared for the first time at the Montana Chamber Music Festival.
	Jessie Montgomery, violinist, joined the Providence String Quartet in 2004. She is a graduate of The Juilliard School where she studied with Sally Thomas. Jessie won second prize in the 2001 Sphinx Competition and was previously a member of The Young Eight, an all-African American string ensemble. During her summers, Jessie has participated in the Spoleto Festival, the National Orchestra Institute, and Meadowmount School of Music. Also a composer, Jessie was the recipient of the Composer's Apprentice Award, given by the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. She has been a guest faculty member at the Apple Hill Center for Chamber Music.
	Sebastian Ruth, violist, is the Founder and Executive-Artistic Director of Community MusicWorks. A graduate of Brown University, he has been a member of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, Ocean State Chamber Orchestra, and the Wild Ginger Philharmonic. Sebastian has participated in the Audubon String Quartet Seminar, the Yellow Barn and Apple Hill Chamber Music Festivals, and the International Musical Arts Institute. In 2003, Sebastian studied, under the auspices of a fellowship from The Rhode Island Foundation, in a two-week violin master class at the Schola Cantorum in Paris. Influential teachers have included Eric Rosenblith, Rolfe Sokol and Pamela Gearhart.
	Sara Stalnaker, cellist, is a native of Portland, Oregon, where she began her cello studies at the age of seven. She is a member of the Rhode Island Philharmonic and was previously a member of the New Haven Symphony. Sara holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and a Master of Music degree from the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University. Her teachers have included Norman Fischer, Peter Rejto, Hamilton Cheietz, Denis Brott, Fred Zlotkin, and Desmond Hoebig. She appeared at the Montana Chamber Music Festival in 2005.