FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 10, 2007

CONTACT: Katie Reilly / Marketing Coordinator

(802) 447-1571 Fax (802) 442-8305

info@benningtonmuseum.org

Bennington String Quartet to Perform at the Bennington Museum

Come enjoy an inspiring musical performance by the Bennington String Quartet on Sunday, January 21 at 2:00 p.m. at the Bennington Museum. The museum is excited to welcome back this talented group of musicians who bring their vast collective experience to every performance. The program will include music by Mozart, Mendelssohn, and Strauss. The Bennington String Quartet, founded in 1991, visits classrooms twice a year to introduce children to the instruments, music, and composers of chamber music. The quartet also performs regularly in the Bennington area.

The Bennington String Quartet consists of Joseph Schor, Melanie Dexter, Catharine Hall-Schor, and Nathaniel Parke. All the members have impressive musical backgrounds and have performed all over the region. Joseph Schor, violin, is a former member of the New York City Ballet Orchestra and former concert master of the New York City Opera and Denver Symphony. Currently a member of the American Composers Orchestra and the Berkshire Symphony, Schor also participates on the coaching staff of the Chamber Music Conference and Composers Forum of the East. In the past Schor has also performed with the Sivermine String Quartet.

Melanie Dexter, violin, holds a degree from the prestigious Eastman School of Music and an MBA from Cornell University. Dexter also performs extensively around the region with the Berkshire Symphony, Albany Symphony, Vermont Symphony , and at Williams College. In addition she has performed chamber and orchestral music worldwide in Germany, Italy, and Puerto Rico.

Catharine Hall-Schor, viola, studied at Oberlin Conservatory of Music and also holds a degree in Anthropology from Columbia University. Hall-Schor is a member of the American Composers Orchestra, and the Berkshire Symphony, and she has performed with many groups in New York City. She directs the String Program at North Bennington Graded School and she is co-director of the North Bennington Children’s Shakespeare Theater, and author of The Young Peoples’ Shakespeare Series.

Principal cello of the Berkshire Symphony, Nathaniel Parke has also been a member of the Boston Composers String Quartet, with whom he can be heard performing new works by Boston composers on the MMC label. He is currently Artist Associate in Cello at Williams College, and also a part-time lecturer at SUNY Albany. Previously, Parke served as a faculty member, and chamber music coach at the Longy School of Music, Skidmore College, and the Chamber Music Conference and Composer’s Forum of the East.

This performance is an excellent chance to experience the work of these talented and experienced artists. The cost for the concert is $12 per person, $7 for students, children under 12 free. The Bennington Museum is located at 75 Main St. (Route 9) one mile west of the intersection of Routes 7 and 9 in downtown Bennington, Vermont. For more information about the museum, visit the website at www.benningtonmuseum.org.