The Genesis String Quartet is a new ensemble based in Merida, Mexico and made up of members of the Yucatan Symphony Orchestra. The Yucatan Peninsula is an area which has only had a symphony orchestra for three years. The aim of the Genesis String Quartet is to introduce chamber music to the local people, not only in major theatres but in less priveliged and poorer areas.

This new string quartet sees it as their responsibility to play music by Latin and Mexican composers as well as the standard repertoire. It is also an intrinsic part of their mission to educate and coach local talent.

The Quartet has played in the major theatres of Yucatan, collaborating with guest artists from all over the world. It intends to expand its current performance schedule, inviting more guest artists (including the Grammy Award-nominated Cuarteto Latinoamericano) and possibly performing in chamber music festivals such as the Cervantino Festival in Guanajuato and the Instrumenta Festival in Puebla.

Musicians

Tim Myall

Born in England, Tim completed his studies at the Trinity College of Music under the direction of Eszter Boda Katona and Detlef Hahn. He has been the recipient of several awards including the Sir John Barbirolli Prize for String Quartet, the Mero and Byrma Jee Jeebhooy Prize and the Alfred Gibson Prize. Since then he has worked with numerous orchestras and ensembles, among them the BBC Concert Orchestra, the Doyle Carle Opera and the London production of the musical Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Tim has appeared regularly with The Commercial String Section Millenia Strings, recording various albums for well-known artists such as David Aray and Travis and the Divine Comedy, as well as for channel 4 of BBC TV in London.

Currently he is part of the first violin section of the Symphony Orchestra of Yucatan and teaches violin at the Centro de Iniciacion Musical Infantil de Yucatan.

Gocha Shkirtladze

Gocha entered the Tchaikovsky Conservatory of Moscow in 1996. He was a member of the Melos Quartet, also of Moscow, in 2000. He has worked with several of the world’s greatest musicians including Placido Domingo and Mstislav Rostropovich. He has played in many of the main concert halls in Russia, England, Sweden and Mexico.

Gocha is the assistant concertmaster of the Symphony Orchestra of Yucatan and has performed in chamber ensembles in all the major concert halls in Merida.

Suzanne Evans

A 2001 graduate of the Shenandoah Conservatory, Suzanne furthered her studies at the Carnegie Mellon University School of Music in Pittsburgh under the direction of Cyrus Forough and Toby Appel. She was a founding member of the Blue Ridge String Quartet and toured with the ensemble to Austria, Germany and the Czech Republic. She has also performed in various ensembles all over the east coast, including the Carnegie Mellon Baroque Ensemble, Pittsburgh Opera Theater, the Wheeling Symphony, the Maryland Symphony, the Carnegie Mellon Contemporary Ensemble and the Milbrook Orchestra. Suzanne is an experienced violinist and violist, adept in a variety of styles from baroque to contemporary, and also is skilled in jazz improvisation.

Since her arrival in Yucatan she has been a member of the contemporary ensemble Sequenza Sur, playing in the esteemed Cervantino Festival in Guanajuato in many other venues throughout Mexico. Currently she is co-principal viola in the Symphony Orchestra of Yucatan and teaches violin and viola both privately and in Yucatan’s music school.

Jonathan Hennessey-Brown

Jonathan graduated from the Royal College of Music in London in 1997. His work as a chamber musician has taken him to Mexico, Greece, Egypt, Israel and to the major concert halls of London such as the Festival Hall, the Purcell Room and St. Martins in the Fields. He won the Dame Ruth Chamber Music Competition in the Royal Academy of Music. Jonathan has played with the Royal Philharmonic of London and with distinguished musicians such as Placido Domingo, Yehudi Menuhin, Oscar Chavez (in the National Auditorium in Mexico City), and Yuri Bashmet.

During his 4 years in Yucatan he has been the principal cellist of the Symphony Orchestra of Yucatan and part of the chamber music project of the Institute of Culture of Yucatan. Jonathan has performed in concerts and events with Ligia Camera, Richard Clayderman and Jorge Buenfil, as well as many other renowned musicians. He was a member of the Daniel Ayala Trio and has played in all of Merida’s orchestras as well as many ensembles.

The debut of Cuarteto Genesis took place in March of 2005 in the Jose Peon Contreras Theatre in Merida. The program consisted of Mozart’s famous string quartet “The Dissonance”, KV465 in C Major, as well as a clarinet quintet, also by Mozart, with invited guest soloist Paolo Dorio, principal clarinetist of the Symphony Orchestra of Yucatan.

Their next event was a concert for the University Mesoamericana of Saint Agustin in Merida. This concert celebrated the tenth anniversary of the UMSA and included a premiere of the clarinet quintet “Anamnesis” by the renowned Mexican composer Mariana Villanueva, again with Paolo Dorio as guest soloist.

Cuarteto Genesis was also the featured string quartet accompanying the pianist Richard Clayderman for his Mexican tour in May of 2005. The concerts took place in Club
Campestre in Merida and in the Esperanza Iris Theatre in the city of Villahermosa.

In the 2005-2006 season, Cuarteto Genesis performed in two major concerts in Merida, in September at the former Quintana Roo School, and in June in the Jose Peon Contreras Theatre. September’s program featured two guest violinists, Christopher Collins-Lee and Emoke Kovacs, as well as the up-and-coming Yucatecan guitarist Cecilio Perera. Cuarteto Genesis’ most recent event in June of 2006 featured Christopher Collins-Lee, violin, and Francisco Monteverde, cello.

Future plans for the 2006-2007 season include an octet concert with the Grammy-Award-nominated Cuarteto Latinoamericano in January and possible collaborations with guitarist Cecilio Perera.

Repertoire
Beethoven. String Quartet Opus 18 No. 5 in A Major
Barber. String Quartet (1936)
Brouwer. Quintet for Guitar and String Quartet (1957)
Debussy. String Quartet (1893)Dvorak. String Quartet "The American"
Mozart. Divertimentos K316-8/125 a-c in D, B-flat and F
Mozart. String Quartet "The Dissonance" K 465 in C Major.
Mozart. Adagio and Fugue K546
Mozart. Clarinet Quintet K581 in A Major
Mozart. Duet for Violin and Viola in G Major (1783)
Piazzolla. Four for Tango
Piazzolla. Adios Nonino
Revueltas. String Quartet No. 4, Musica de Feria
Schubert. String Quartet in a minor (1824)
Schubert. Quintet in C Major for 2 Cellos((1828)
M. Villanueva. Anamnesis (1996)

* Works in progress are pieces by Javier Álvarez, Silvestre Revueltas, Schnitke and Shostakovich.



C O N T A C T INFORMATION
Calle 56 Núm. 476 entre 55 y 57 Centro. C.P. 97000.
Mérida, Yucatán
MEXICO

Tel. 011-52- 999 – 928-6009
email: cuartetogenesis@gmail.com
web: http://cuartetogenesis.blogspot.com