(ENGLEWOOD, NJ) -- The Elisabeth Morrow School will welcome the groundbreaking, Sybarite5 (S5) to the 23rd year of the Elisabeth Morrow School Summer String Festival on Tuesday, August 14 at 2:15pm in the Peter Lawrence Gymkhana. Sybarite5 will be teaching their cover of “Heartbreaker”, originally by Led Zeppelin, in a public session to the 200+ young musicians of the Elisabeth Morrow School Summer String Festival.
The program continues to receive generous support from its initial funder, The Russell Berrie Foundation, as well as dozens of other private donations. A team of highly trained faculty and about 100 alumni return to the Summer String Festival working to teach, rehearse and perform with enrolled students. The Russell Berrie Foundation seeks to continue Russ’ mission by providing significant support to strengthen New Jersey’s art, cultural and health care institutions and celebrates everyday people who make a significant difference in the lives of others.
This quintet has taken audiences by storm all across the US, forever changing the perception of chamber music performance. The members — Sami Merdinian (violin), Sarah Whitney (violin), Angela Pickett (viola), Laura Metcalf (cello) and Louis Levitt (bass) — take the audience on an exciting ride that engages the senses and redefines with their mix of classically honed technique, grit and all out passion. Sybarite5 is deeply committed to education and outreach as well as performance.
Sybarite5 has performed at Caramoor Center for the Arts, Wolf Trap Opera, Interlochen Center for the Arts and many others, with international appearances at Canada’s Tuckamore Music Festival, the New Docta International Music Festival in Cordoba, Argentina, and the Osaka Festa in Osaka, Japan. Highlights include performances in 43 states and counting, from the Library of Congress and St. Paul’s Schubert Club to Anchorage Concert Association, as well as concerts in their home of New York City at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the Apple Store and the 92nd Street Y.
The Elisabeth Morrow Summer String Festival: The program taking place August 13 – 17th is a week long violin intensive for 230 children 4 – 13 years of age made up of violinists, violists, cellists, harpists and bassists will rehearse and perform Handel, Vivaldi, Telemann, Bartok and Bach in an instructional and joyful music training program created by Amelia Gold, Music Director for The Elisabeth Morrow School Summer String Festival and The Elisabeth Morrow School. Gold is a Juilliard graduate and accomplished violinist who has accompanied Madonna, toured with the Juilliard Orchestra in France, and coached Meryl Streep for her role in Music of the Heart.
Over 300 students auditioned for the Festival last May, some from as far away as Paris and Korea. Among the accepted students, one-third of the children selected by Gold to participate come from underserved communities within New York and New Jersey. Many of these students will receive scholarships and financial aid funded by The Russell Berrie Foundation and private donations. A team of highly trained musicians including faculty String Festival alumni will provide the students with individualized and in-depth training.
Tuesday, August 14th 2:15-3pm - Sybarite5 (Public Event)
Thursday, August 16th 1:30pm – 3pm - Summer String Festival Free Public Performance
Both take place at Elisabeth Morrow School Gymkhana, 480 Next Day Hill Drive in Englewood, NJ
The Elisabeth Morrow School (EMS) is an independent country day school serving children, age three through eighth grade, from more than 70 communities throughout New Jersey and New York. EMS provides an innovative 21st-century curriculum focusing on critical thinking, collaboration, creativity, and character development. The school’s comprehensive secondary school placement process ensures graduates matriculate into premier day and boarding schools. Located on 14 wooded acres in Englewood, NJ, the EMS campus includes multiple technology and science labs, playgrounds, libraries, athletic facilities, nature trails and working gardens. Visit our website: www.elisabethmorrow.org.
Photo of Sybarite5 by Brian Braun
