Harlem Quartet to bring diverse sound to Ford hall

IF YOU GO

What: Harlem Quartet

When: 7:30 p.m. Thursday

Where: Ford Family Recital Hall, 260 W. Federal St., Youngstown

Tickets: $34 ($28 for senior citizens and YSU faculty and staff, and free for students), available in advance at 330-744-0264 or at deyorpac.org.

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

New York-based string quartet Harlem Quartet will perform at Ford Family Recital Hall, 260 W. Federal St., downtown, at 7:30 p.m. Thursday.

The concert is part of the Pipino performing arts series, sponsored by Youngstown State University’s Cliffe College of Creative Arts and Communication.

“Concertgoers will be inspired by a wide variety of music, including jazz, classical, Latin and new works by contemporary composers,” said Phyllis M. Paul, dean of the Cliffe College, in describing the act.

In addition to the concert, the quartet will present a master class for Dana School of Music students Wednesday.

Harlem Quartet advances diversity in classical music with a varied repertoire that includes works by minority composers.

“I think it is noteworthy that this concert by the Harlem Quartet is at the beginning of the weekend and holiday that celebrates Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., as this group celebrates diversity in both its members and in its music,” said Gary Sexton, director of 88.5 WYSU-FM. “Their program will appeal to everyone.”

Since its public debut at Carnegie Hall in 2006, the quartet has appeared throughout the United States, as well as Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Ethiopia, France, Panama, South Africa, Venezuela and the United Kingdom.

It has also collaborated with such artists as violinist Itzhak Perlman, cellist Carter Brey, clarinetist Paquito D’Rivera, saxophonist and composer Tim Garland and jazz artists Gary Burton and John Patitucci.

The quartet’s most recent collaboration was with jazz pianist Chick Corea in a Grammy-winning album that included Corea’s “Mozart Goes Dancing,” which won a separate Grammy as Best Instrumental Composition.

Its latest jazz album, “Heart of Brazil: A Tribute to Egberto Gismonti,” recorded with the Eddie Daniels Quartet, was released in June.

Harlem Quartet was founded in 2006 by The Sphinx Organization, a national nonprofit dedicated to building diversity in classical music and providing access to music education in underserved communities. Its members are Ilmar Gavilan, violin; Melissa White, violin; Jaime Amador, viola; and Felix Umansky, cello.

The remaining performances in the Pipino series are:

Kate Reid, performing the Great American Songbook, 7:30 p.m. April 5.

“Into the Woods,” the Stephen Sondheim musical presented by YSU’s theater department at 7:30 p.m. April 12 and at 2 p.m. April 14.

David Krakauer and Ancestral Groove, 8 p.m. April 27.