6th Borough Quartet's New York Benefit - Soggy but fun!

April 21, 2011 at 4:01 AM

Last Saturday night, in the middle of a ferocious spring rainstorm, 6th Borough Quartet performed our first of two benefit concerts for victims of the recent earthquake and tsunami in Japan. The weather outside could not have been worse, so we were grateful for the small crowd of soggy but dedicated music lovers, including friends, family, and members of the All Soul's Unitarian Church on Lexington Avenue on New York's Upper West Side.

We raised just under $400-- much less than we had hoped, but it was still a wonderful evening of music and camaraderie at the concert and reception, which featured excellent cookies baked by the moms of my fellow quartet members: Clare Semes, violin; Maria Semes, violin and viola; and Mitch Lyon, cello.

You may have noticed that our quartet does not have a violist: Maria Semes and I share viola duty. In this concert, to lighten our load getting to the church in a taxi with all our instruments and equipment, we also shared a viola. I forgot to bring an extra shoulder rest large enough for the viola (Maria's shoulder rest does double-duty) so during my viola stint, I got to experience playing restless, and on the spot.

Here's a clip from the concert, Blue Rondo a l Turk by Dave Brubeck, arranged by Jeremy Cohen of Quartet San Francisco:

From Laurie Niles
Posted on April 22, 2011 at 7:28 PM

Congratulations on your concert, and thank you for sharing this video. Blue Rondo a la Turk is one of my all-time favorite tunes, Jeremy Cohen strikes again! Here is a link to the music. I gotta get this!

From bill platt
Posted on April 24, 2011 at 12:27 PM

Nice blues licks.

From Jim Hastings
Posted on April 25, 2011 at 1:33 PM

Loved it -- thanks. Played it twice in the office this morning -- a great way to start the workday.

From Yixi Zhang
Posted on April 26, 2011 at 6:21 AM

Enjoyed it very much! Bravo!

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