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.

As the quartet-in-residence for Community MusicWorks, the Providence String Quartet provides free after-school music education and performance programming to youth in Providence's most underserved neighborhoods. In tandem with these activities, the Providence String Quartet fills the role of the City's resident professional string quartet by performing throughout Providence and across the state.

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 give the world premiere of a work for violin and piano composed for him by Rick Beaudoin. He has performed as a guest artist at the Montana Chamber Music Festival and Bay Chamber Concerts in Rockport, ME.
	Minna Choi, violinist, has been involved with Community MusicWorks since 1998 and was a founding member of the Providence String Quartet from 2001 to 2004. After attending the Hartt School of Music where she earned a Masters Degree in Violin Performance, Minna returned in 2006 as the Fellowship Program Coordinator. She rejoined the Providence String Quartet in 2009. She graduated from Brown University in 1996 with a BA in Philosophy and her influential teachers have included Eric Rosenblith and Lois Finkel. She has performed with the Boston Philharmonic, the Rhode Island Philharmonic, and the Ocean State Chamber Orchestra. Each summer, she performs at the International Musical Arts Institute in Fryeburg, ME.
	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 founding member of the Providence String Quartet. She is a founding member of the New Providence Trio with violinist Jessie Montgomery and pianist Eliko Akahori. Sara also performs regularly as a member of the Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra. Previous orchestras and ensembles include the Corbett Duo, Gallatin Duo, Kalistos Chamber Orchestra, New Haven Symphony Orchestra, and Portland Symphony Orchestra. Summer festivals include Aspen, Montana Chamber Music Festival, Sarasota, and Music Academy of the West. Recent solo work includes a recording on the MMC label and a performance of the Brahms Double Concerto (with PSQ violinist Jesse Holstein) with the Rhode Island Philharmonic Community Orchestra. She is a graduate of Oberlin Conservatory and Rice University.