The Florida Debut Of The Renaissance Quartet With Four Perlman Music Program Alumni

The Perlman Music Program Suncoast (Perlman Suncoast) present the Florida debut performance of the Renaissance Quartet with PMP alumni, Randall Goosby, violin; Jeremiah Blacklow, violin; Jameel Martin, viola; and Daniel Hass, cello, Wednesday, February 22, 7 p.m., at the Sarasota Art Museum, 1001 S. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota. The program features Beethoven's Grosse Fuge, Opus 133, Mozart String Quartet in D Major, K575, and the world premiere of Daniel Hass' String Quartet No. 1. Tickets are $40 (VIP) and $20 (general admission). Purchase tickets at PMPSuncoast.org.

Lisa Berger, PMP Suncoast's executive director, notes that violinist Randall Goosby made a recent solo performance at the Sarasota Opera House in December and the "audience reaction was overwhelming." She adds that many of them have watched Goosby train and perform at the PMP Winter Residency here since he was 15 years old. "Jeremiah, Jameel and Daniel, also PMP alumni, are well known and treasured by our community," she says. "It was decided that the group hold their Florida debut performance right here in Sarasota, a place that has so many fond memories for them and our audience."

The four members of the group first met in 2012, while studying together at the Perlman Music Program. From that time, they developed a close friendship which continues to grow as they play more music together. As students at Juilliard, they collaborated as a group for the first time, performing Robert Schumann's Piano Quintet five times in as many days while working with Juilliard dancers. They had their first chance to play together as a string quartet later that year and were immediately encouraged by The Juilliard Quartet's first violinist, Areta Zhulla, to form an official group. From that moment, the four realized that they had to follow this calling and share their sound with the world.

All four members of the group have unique careers in music, and brought together, each personal viewpoint serves to create a broad perspective and an intense individuality that is the source for the quartet's already recognizable voice. The group's performance style projects a visceral rhythmic energy combined with an almost nostalgic lyricism. The Renaissance Quartet understands that representation matters. They represent and articulate an inclusive vision of the future of classical music, which sees a culture of music wherein all lives and histories are welcomed and celebrated. They believe that a quartet is the ideal musical example of a democratic effort that creates and expresses art on a scale larger than the sum of its parts. Together, the group feels a responsibility to command a diverse repertoire of classic, underrepresented, and new works, so they can contribute to the reclamation, redefinition, and continuation of a musical tradition that belongs to all of us.

The Perlman Music Program nurtures the talent of gifted young musicians by providing an opportunity for them to train in Sarasota with Itzhak Perlman at the PMP Winter Residency. After the residency, PMP students move on to higher education and careers. The Perlman Music Program Suncoast (PMP Suncoast) then invites these alumni back to the Sarasota-Manatee region for performances and outreach initiatives throughout the year. Each performance offers a unique opportunity for area audiences to learn about and interact with the musicians through Q&A sessions and post-concert receptions.

Jeremiah Blacklow began studying the violin when he was three. As a soloist and chamber musician, he has performed at important cultural centers across the globe, including Carnegie Hall, Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Neue Galerie.

Blacklow recently graduated with a master's degree from Juilliard, where he studied with Itzhak Perlman and Catherine Cho as a recipient of the Fidelity Foundation Scholarship and the Dorothy Starling Scholarship. He is the founding second violinist of the Renaissance String Quartet.

Randall Goosby is an active chamber musician, who has spent his summers studying at The Perlman Music Program and winters at the PMP Winter Residency in Sarasota.

June 2021 marks the release of Goosby's debut album for Decca, entitled "Roots," a celebration of African-American music which explores its evolution from the spiritual through to present-day compositions. Collaborating with pianist Zhu Wang, Goosby has curated an album paying homage to the pioneering artists that paved the way for him and other artists of color. It features three world-premiere recordings of music written by African-American composer Florence Price, and includes works by composers William Grant Still and Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson, plus a newly commissioned piece by acclaimed double bassist Xavier Foley, a fellow Sphinx, Perlman Music Program and Young Concert Artists alum.

Violist Jameel Martin has performed as a soloist with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra and the Metropolitan Youth Orchestra of Indianapolis, and has performed for audiences in Austria, China, Canada, Germany, Israel, and across the United States. He is a graduate of The Juilliard School, where he completed his pre-college and undergraduate studies. He is the founding violist of the Renaissance Quartet, alongside violinists Randall Goosby and Jeremiah Blacklow, and cellist Daniel Hass, having attended together the Perlman Music Program's Summer Music School, Chamber Music Workshop, and repeated residencies in Sarasota and Israel.

Daniel Haas, an Israeli-Canadian cellist made his solo debut with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra at age 15. He has since performed as a soloist with orchestras across the United States and Canada, at world-class venues such as Alice Tully Hall and Carnegie Hall. As recitalist and chamber musician, Haas has performed in Amsterdam, Lisbon, Tel Aviv, Budapest, Montreal, and across the United States and Canada. He is an alum of The Perlman Music Program and graduated from Juilliard in 2017 as a recipient of the Kovner Fellowship, and in 2021 with a master's degree.

PMP Alumni Concerts: Upcoming

• February 17: The PMP Alumni String Quartet, with Jeremiah Blacklow, violin; Valerie Kim, violin; Jameel Martin, viola; and Daniel Hass, cello. 7 p.m. at the Harvest, 3650 17th Street Sarasota. Tickets are $30 (VIP) and $15 (general admission).

• February 18: The PMP Alumni String Quartet, with Jeremiah Blacklow, violin; Valerie Kim, violin; Jameel Martin, viola; and Daniel Hass, cello. 1 p.m. at The Oval on The Bay, 1055 Blvd of the Arts, Sarasota. Admission is free but registration is requested.

• March 28: KJ McDonald, violin; Phoebe Gardner, violin; Julian Seney, viola; and Leland Ko, cello. 2 p.m. at Selby Public Library, 1331 First Street, Sarasota. Free.

• April 13: Molly Carr, viola; and Anna Petrova, piano. Time and location to be announced.

The Perlman Music Program Suncoast cultivates, educates and inspires audiences of all ages through classical music performances and education outreach programs, including hosting the annual Perlman Music Program Winter Residency on the University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee Campus, PMP Alumni: Around Town, and PMP Alumni: In Schools. Through its relationship with PMP, founded by Toby Perlman, and with a world-renowned faculty, including internationally acclaimed violinist and conductor Itzhak Perlman, Perlman Suncoast offers the public the unique opportunity to witness the talent and spirit of extraordinarily gifted and promising young string students and accomplished graduates. For more information, visit PerlmanSuncoast.org.