San Diego State University Adams' Project

Joseph Fisch/Joyce Axelrod String Quartet in Residence at SDSU in association with the La Jolla Music Society

Sarah Nematallah, violin
Min-Jeong Koh, violin
Caitlin Boyle, viola
Rebecca Wenham, 'cello

Praised for their 'extraordinary commitment and maturity' (Montreal Gazette) and 'talent, passion and mastery' (Jacques Robert, JR Multimedia), the Cecilia String Quartet is one of Canada 's most promising emerging ensembles today.

The Cecilia String Quartet was formed at the University of Toronto in the fall of 2004. In January 2005, the group met high praise with its debut performance at the Arts and Letters Club of Toronto, and their first season culminated in the receipt of the Felix Galimir Award for Chamber Music Excellence. Since that time, they have been invited to such prestigious festivals as the Juilliard String Quartet Seminar in New York, the Stanford Chamber Music Seminar with the St. Lawrence String Quartet in California, and the Schleswig Holstein Chamber Music Festival with the Tokyo Quartet in Germany . In addition, the quartet has worked with members of the Guarneri, Muir, Brentano, Ying, American, and Vermeer Quartets.

The Cecilia String Quartet recently completed a Career Development Residency with the Penderecki String Quartet at Laurier University, where they worked with members of the Penderecki, Juilliard, and Emerson String Quartets. One of two quartets chosen to attend the Emerging Quartets and Composers program at the 2006 Deer Valley Music Festival in Utah, the CSQ worked extensively with the Muir Quartet and gave the premier of Belinda Reynolds' ‘Static Motion', a work commissioned for the CSQ by the festival under the guidance of Joan Tower . The Quartet has toured Ontario, Quebec , and British Columbia with Jeunessese Musicales Canada, and has performed on a variety of other series across North America , such as the Ottawa International Chamber Music Society, Toronto Music Garden, and the Northern Lights Music Festival in Ajijic , Mexico . In addition, they will be featured on Music Toronto's Discovery Series for the next three seasons. This past year, the quartet held the title “Emerging Artists” at the University of Toronto and “Apprentice Ensemble in Residence” at the Glenn Gould School of the Royal Conservatory of Music. This summer they participated in the 5th Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition, and were fellows of the Advanced String Quartet Studies Program at the Aspen Music Festival. They were also awarded the Galaxie Rising Stars Award.

The Cecilia String Quartet takes its name from St. Cecilia, the patron saint of music. Members of the quartet have attended the University of Toronto, the Glenn Gould School at the Royal Conservatory of Music, the New England Conservatory, the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University, the HARID Conservatory of Music, and the Hochschule fur Musik und Theatre Munchen in Munich, Germany. For the coming year, the Cecilia String Quartet will be the Resident String Quartet at San Diego State University.

Audio Samples

"Cecilia : Excellent.

During this hour-long, intermission-free concert, we are acquainted with a very serious and a tremendously coherent ensemble whose astounding complicity, tuning, ideas, and focus capture the audience." Claude Gingras (La Presse Montreal)

"Their Shostakovich (the Ninth Quartet, Op.117) was harrowing, with the pizzicato chords of the fourth movement zinging like electrical shocks and the recitative-like passages crying out from the depths of the soul..." Tamara Bernstein (La Scena Musicale)

"Right from the start of Beethoven's fiery Quartet Op.59 No.2, we heard a passionate tone and sure sense of timing... the four players found a competitive style perfectly attuned to the music." Arthur Kaptainis (Montreal Gazette)

"We had the pleasure of having the Cecilia String Quartet visit the Orchestra program at Mt Carmel High School today and were very impressed. The students were thoroughly engaged not only with their performance but also with their ability to relate to the students. A special thanks to Caitlin for arranging this clinic and to you for continuing to present SDSU in a very positive light in the community by having this type of group available to the public schools. Thank you!!" Warren Torns (Orchestra/Band Director Mt Carmel HS)