Farmington Musicale Presents String Quartet Oct. 3

The Farmington Musicale will feature the Cassini Ensemble, performing "All Things Strings", on Oct. 3, 1 p.m. at St. John Lutheran Church in Farmington.

Performers Marla Smith and Constance Markwick, violins, John Madison and James Greer, violas, and Judy Vander Weg, cello, will perform a string quintet by Mendelssohn and other music.   

Smith has been a private violin teacher for over 20 years. She performs regularly with the Cassini Ensemble, runs sectionals at area schools, judges at various festivals and is an active free-lancer. Smith and Markwick run Adventures in Chamber Music, a local summer string chamber music program.

Smith is also a performing member of The Farmington Musicale and has served for several years on the committee for the club's Awards for Musical Excellence competition. The contest provides an opportunity for local music students in 7th-12th grade to compete for cash prizes that they can use for their music education.

Markwick is an active chamber musician on both the violin and viola. She appears in numerous area chamber concerts and performs with the Traverse and Flint Symphonies, as well as the Michigan Opera Theatre. She teaches privately.

Vander Weg has been the principal cellist of the Flint Symphony Orchestra since 2002. She enjoys playing recitals throughout Michigan and has been principal cellist of the Chamber Music Festival of Saugatuck for the past 12 summers. She maintains a busy private teaching studio in Grosse Pointe.

Greer, who plays violin/viola, has been performing in the Detroit area for over 30 years.  Besides occasional national and international tours and residencies, he currently is performing with Michigan Opera Theatre, LaCorda Ensemble, Chamber Music at the Scarab Club and several local and regional ensembles. He also is teaching privately and through the Sphinx Organization's Overture Program in the Detroit Public Schools.

Madison is principal violist in the Michigan Opera Theatre orchestra and a frequent substitute player in the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.  He is a founding member of the Cassini Ensemble, an active free  lancer, and a busy private teacher.  When not playing on chamber music programs or with other orchestras in the area, Madison tends his amazing garden. 

The program is offered free to the community. For information, call 248-474-0584.

Source: Farmington Musicale press release