An evening of music with the Red Door String Quartet at Mansion Hill Sanctuary.
DETAILS
Tickets: $35 (plus service fee)
7:30pm Performance
8:30pm Private reception with the artists
ARTISTS
Red Door String Quartet
Philip Marten, violin
Rachel Charbel, violin
Gabriel Napoli, viola
Nicholas Mariscal, cello
PROGRAM
This program, curated by violinist Philip Marten, will feature two works for string quartet:
For centuries, comparisons have been drawn between musical composition and literary rhetoric. There are small-scale organizational patterns like sentences and phrases that are shared between the two mediums, as well as more macro-level concepts such as proposing a problem or question to the consumer and then leading them on a journey towards resolution (or not!). Both of the works on this evening’s programs lean into this connection between music and literature.
The first, String Quartet No. 1 by Leoš Janáček is nicknamed after the work that inspired it, The Kreutzer Sonata by Leo Tolstoy. Janáček uses Moravian and Russian folk tunes to illustrate the emotions and tensions of Tolstoy’s characters, evoking their struggles with love, jealousy, and violence.
The second work on this program follows the structure of an imagined one-act play, with each movement representing a different scene. The first movement introduces characters in their context, the second represents action and reaction, the third serves as an opportunity for character monologues (instrumental solos), and the fourth brings the characters together again in connection with all that has happened to them.
String Quartet No. 1 ‘The Kreutzer Sonata’ ・Leoš Janáček
‘In One Act’ (World Premiere)・Philip Marten
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
The Red Door Quartet, comprised of Philip Marten and Rachel Charbel, violins, Gabriel Napoli, viola, and Nicholas Mariscal, cello, are all members of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. Going beyond their traditional roles as members of the CSO string sections, the Red Door Quartet was founded so members could collaborate in the more intimate manner afforded by the quartet repertoire. Named after their debut recital venue, the name pays homage to the red doors of All Saints Episcopal Church in Pleasant Ridge.
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Currently 1st Assistant Concertmaster of the Cincinnati Symphony, Philip Marten joined the Kansas City Symphony in 2016 as a first violin section member, and served as Acting Assistant Concertmaster in 2017. Since arriving in Cincinnati, he has been active in the community with organizations such as Concert:Nova, The Response Project, and Ascent Festival, and in the 24/25 season, he is curating and performing in the newly established Red Door Series. During his time with the CSO, he has appeared several times as a soloist with the orchestra. He has also appeared as guest concertmaster with the Kansas City Symphony and the Kentucky Symphony Orchestra.
Before his 2016 appointment in Kansas City, Marten worked as Concertmaster of the American Youth Symphony for the 2015/16 season. As an active chamber musician, he has collaborated with David Chan, Desmond Hoebig, Benny Kim, Scott Lee, Cho-Liang Lin, Jon Kimura Parker, and Ivo-Jan van der Werff. He is a founding member of the Rodin Trio, which participated in La Jolla Music Society’s Summerfest in 2017. He has also been a member of Amicus Trio and Fairway String Quartet, the latter of which won fellowships to the Juilliard String Quartet Program, Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, and the McGill International String Quartet Academy, among others festivals.
A Kansas City native, Philip Marten grew up participating in many local music organizations including the Kansas City Youth Symphony and Heartland Chamber Music Academy. He also studied violin with former Kansas City Philharmonic concertmaster Tiberius Klausner. After receiving an undergraduate degree from Rice University in 2015 under the tutelage of Cho- Liang Lin, he went on to University of Southern California where he completed a year of graduate studies with Glenn Dicterow.
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Raised in Bellingham, Washington, Rachel Charbel began studying the violin at the age of seven. As a member of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Rachel holds the Ida Ringling North chair. Past appointments include section positions in the Austin Symphony and Dayton Philharmonic, as well as Associate Concertmaster of the ProMusica Chamber Orchestra. In addition, Rachel has performed with the Detroit, Louisville, and Alabama symphony orchestras. Rachel received a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Texas and a Master of Music degree from the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. Her principal teachers include Gabriel Pegis, Jorja Fleezanis, and Walter Schwede. After serving as Adjunct Professor of Violin at the Northern Kentucky University, Rachel now maintains a private studio of promising young violinists. An avid chamber musician, Rachel has performed with several ensembles including the Winstead Chamber Series, Concert:Nova, Apollo Music Festival, Florestan Chamber Music, and the Austin Chamber Music Festival. During the summer, Rachel has performed with the Britt, Astoria, Festival dei Due Mondi (Italy), and Bellingham music festivals, and served as concertmaster of the Spoleto Festival (USA). In her spare time, Rachel enjoys gardening, hiking, board games, and exploring what greater Cincinnati has to offer with her husband and two daughters.
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Gabriel Napoli joined the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra viola section in the fall of 2022 and is currently the Acting Associate Principal Violist. Previously, he performed three seasons at the New World Symphony under the baton of Michael Tilson Thomas. A native of Cleveland Ohio, Gabe started violin lessons at age 4.
Gabe earned his Bachelor’s degree in violin performance from Northwestern University and his Master’s degree in viola performance from the Cleveland Institute of Music. His primary teachers include Almita Vamos, Robert Hanford, Robert Vernon, Mark Jackobs and Stephen Sims. During his graduate studies at CIM, Gabe was a member of the Akron Symphony, and has more recently performed as a substitute with The Cleveland Orchestra, the Atlanta Symphony, and the San Diego Symphony.
Gabe studied chamber music with the Dover Quartet, the Cavani Quartet, Peter Salaff of the Cleveland Quartet and Si-Yan Darren Li. As a member of Quartet Amí during his time at Northwestern, Mr. Napoli worked closely with Mathias Tacke and Shmuel Ashkenasi of the Vermeer Quartet, and won first prize at the WDAV Young Chamber Musicians competition at Davidson College.
During his first seasons in Cincinnati, Gabe has had the pleasure of performing on the CSO's Winstead Chamber Music Series, the Ascent Chamber Music Summer Concert Series, the Soli Music Society and the Linton Chamber Music Series.
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A native of Tucson, Arizona, cellist Nicholas Mariscal has been a member of the cello section of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra since May of 2023. Beginning in 2021, he held the position of Assistant Principal Cello of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, and served as the orchestra’s Acting Principal Cello during the 2023-24 season.
Mariscal has appeared as guest principal cellist with the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra on their 2019 tour of South Korea, and has performed as principal cello of the Fjord Cadenza Festival orchestra in Ålesund, Norway. A recent alumnus of the New World Symphony in Miami, Mariscal was a winner of the orchestra’s concerto competition, performing Khachaturian’s Concerto-Rhapsody for cello and orchestra. In 2018, he made his professional solo debut performing the same work with the Tucson Symphony Orchestra. Additionally, he is a top prize winner in the Sphinx, Edith Knox, and Indiana University Latin American Music Center competitions.
As an ardent performer of new and lesser-known music, Mariscal has been involved in dozens of premieres of new works, and has performed extensively as a member of the Aspen Contemporary Ensemble, the Indiana University New Music Ensemble, and USC’s Thornton EDGE ensemble. A passionate proponent of Latin American music, he has recorded rarely-heard music for unaccompanied cello by 20th and 21st century composers including Osvaldo Golijov, Alberto Ginastera, and Paul Desenne, and is a frequent programmer and performer of music from Latin America. Also an avid chamber musician, Mariscal has performed with esteemed artists including Midori Goto, Jorja Fleezanis, Tamás Varga, Atar Arad, and Frank Almond.
Mariscal received his Bachelor of Music degree from Indiana University under the tutelage of Eric Kim, and received a Master of Music degree and a Graduate Certificate from the University of Southern California, where he studied with David Geringas and Ralph Kirshbaum.