Each year The Juilliard School of Music in New York City hosts a week-long seminar with the Juilliard String Quartet to foster the artistic growth of pre-professional string quartets. This year, they selected the freshman Stamps String Quartet from the University of Miami Frost School of Music to participate. On average, eight pre-professional quartets are selected for coaching annually, and it is extremely rare for a freshman university ensemble to earn this opportunity.
The young members of the Stamps String Quartet are Arianne Urban (violin), Victor Colmenares (violin), Amanda Diaz (viola), Christopher Young (cello).
Through intensive coaching and mentoring with members of the Juilliard String Quartet, as well as the interaction with participating quartets, the Stamps String Quartet will be challenged to refine their artistry in a stimulating artistic environment.
The seminar begins Monday, May 16, 2011 and ends on Friday, May 20, 2011. Each quartet will receive two daily coachings with members of the Juilliard String Quartet, and will study two works of contrasting styles. They will also have access to a rehearsal studio, and perform in a public concert at Juilliard at the culmination of the residency. The concert is scheduled to be reviewed by the New York Times.
The Stamps String Quartet’s participation is made possible through the generosity of the Stamps Family Charitable Foundation, the University of Miami Frost School of Music, and an anonymous donor. It is the first time the freshman quartet will travel to New York to perform. They will be joined by a faculty chaperone and Shelton Berg, Dean of the Frost School of Music.
About the Stamps String Quartet
The inaugural Stamps String Quartet is comprised of four young musicians attending the University of Miami Frost School of Music on a full scholarship with free room and board, funded by the Stamps Family Charitable Foundation. They are Arianne Urban (violin), Victor Colmenares (violin), Amanda Diaz (viola), Christopher Young (cello). They are coached at Frost by renowned cellist, Professor Ross Harbaugh, and the Bergonzi String Quartet.
Arianne Urban, violin, just completed her freshman year at the University of Miami Frost School of Music where she is a member of the Stamps String Quartet coached by cellist Ross Harbaugh, and studies privately with violinist Glenn Basham. In 2011 she participated in coaching sessions with musicians from The Cleveland Orchestra and Frost artist-in-residence Mark O’Connor and performed in the Frost Symphony Orchestra and the Henry Mancini Institute Orchestra. Urban was born in Miami and graduated from New World School of the Arts in 2010. She began her violin studies at the age of 8 with Miriam Stern and continued with Misha Vitenson and Daniel Andai throughout her high school career. She was Concertmaster of the String Camerata and Symphony orchestraat NWSA her junior and senior year, as well as the Miami String Project from 2008-2010. She was a winner of the annual concerto competition at NWSA in her freshman year of high school, and won first place for the Alhambra Concerto Competition in 2008.
Victor Colmenares, violin, was born in Columbia. He began playing the violin at age 6 and continued his studies with Amparo Botero (his mother) until the age of 16. In 2010, he graduated from Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan where he studied with Professors Annie Chalex Boyle and Hal Grossman. He just completed his freshman year at the University of Miami Frost School of Music where he is a member of the Stamps String Quartet and studies privately with Glenn Basham. In 2011 he participated in coaching sessions with musicians from The Cleveland Orchestra and Frost artist-in-residence Mark O’Connor and performed in the Frost Symphony Orchestra and the Henry Mancini Institute Orchestra. Before attending Frost, Victor was concertmaster of several youth orchestras in Columbia, including Orchestra of the Javeriana University in Bogota. He won the Young Musician Competition Oreste Sindici, organized by the Colombian Embassy in Italy, Bogota in October 2007. He received an award to study in the Fundazione Arts Academy, Rome, Italy with Professor Alessandro Vavassory for two months. He was chosen by competition to play in the Colombia Symphomy Orchestra in Bogota March and September 2006. He received a scholarship from the Javeriana University in Bogota where he studied two semesters of violin performance.
Amanda Diaz, viola, just completed her freshman year at the University of Miami Frost School of Music and is a member of the Stamps String Quartet, and studies privately with violist Pamela McConnell. In 2011 she participated in coaching sessions with musicians from The Cleveland Orchestra and Frost artist-in-residence Mark O’Connor and performed with the Frost Symphony Orchestra, Frost Opera Theater and other major ensembles. Diaz was born in Miami and graduated with honors from the New World School of the Arts. She began her viola studies at the age of nine with Viera Borisova and continued with Richard Fleischman. Amanda was the winner of the NWSA Concerto competition and performed the J.C. Bach viola Concerto with its orchestra. She was principal violist of the Miami String Project for the 2008-2010 seasons and was invited to Japan to perform with the group in the First Annual Youth Arts Festival in Kagoshima. She was also chosen to play with the renowned Trans-siberian Orchestra at the Bank Atlantic Center. Amanda has attended the Eastern Music Festival and the prestigious Meadowmount School of Music, and in 2010 she participated in the Montecito Summer Music Festival.
Christopher Young, cello, just completed his freshman year at the University of Miami Frost School of Music where he is a member of the Stamps String Quartet and studies privately with Ross Harbaugh. In 2011 he participated in coaching sessions with musicians from The Cleveland Orchestra and Frost artist-in-residence Mark O’Connor and performed in the Frost Symphony Orchestra and with the Frost Opera Theater. Young was born in Santa Maria, California and grew up in Idaho Falls, Idaho, where he began his cello studies at the age of 8 with Janet McIntosh. He attended Skyline High School to study with Dr. Robert Tueller of Brigham Young University - Idaho. For his senior year of high school, Christopher attended Interlochen Arts Academy in northern Michigan, where he studied with Crispin Campbell and graduated summa cum laude.
About the Stamps Family Charitable Foundation Music Scholarship Fund
A unique charitable gift from longtime University of Miami benefactors E. Roe Stamps IV (a UM trustee) and his wife, Penny, significantly enhances the undergraduate program at the University of Miami Frost School of Music.
Through their generosity, the Frost School has the Stamps Family Charitable Foundation Music Scholarship Fund. The Fund allows the Frost School of Music to attract top student musicians such as the recently formed Stamps String Quartet and Stamps Jazz Quintet who, as part of their curricular program, study together and form very special chamber ensembles. These exceptional young artists are advancing together throughout their studies at UM, obtain high-level mentoring, and record, perform and tour for key performance opportunities.
Resources from both the Stamps Family Charitable Foundation and the University of Miami will ultimately fund tuition, plus room and board for 19 music students. In Fall 2011, the Frost School will form the Stamps Woodwind Quintet, and in Fall 2012 the Stamps Brass Quintet.
About the University of Miami Frost School of Music
The Phillip and Patricia Frost School of Music, established in 1926 when the University of Miami was founded, is one of the largest and most relevant schools in the U.S., and is one of the most comprehensive in all of higher education. The naming gift from Dr. Phillip and Patricia Frost was one of the historic highlights in the life of the School. The Frost School has pioneered new curricula including the ground-breaking Frost Experiential Music Curriculum, and was the first in the nation to offer professionally accredited bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Music Business and Entertainment Industries, Music Engineering Technology, and a master’s in Arts Presenting. Its premier ensembles include the Frost Symphony Orchestra, Frost Wind Ensemble, Frost Opera Theater, Frost Jazz Vocal Ensemble and Frost Concert Jazz Band. Now the home of the Henry Mancini Institute, the Frost School also offers a songwriting minor through the Bruce Hornsby Creative American Music Program and was among the first to offer degrees in Music Therapy, and Studio Music and Jazz. Its graduate jazz program is ranked among the top three in the nation. The University of Miami School of Law and the Frost School now offer the first-ever joint degree program in law and music business (J.D./M.M.). The Frost School’s innovative programs, combined with its traditional areas of concentration, offer its students one of the widest choices of career programs of any music school in the nation. music.miami.edu.
