The Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival celebrates 25 years of the Shouse Institute
| DETROIT (May 5, 2022) – This year, the Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival celebrates 25 years since the beginning of its educational programming called the Shouse Institute. For its summer festival, running June 10-25, four ensembles and a solo violist are invited to perform as part of the program. The Catherine Filene Shouse Institute began in 1997, to connect younger, emerging ensembles with opportunities to perform in venues across southeast Michigan and learn first-hand from leading musicians in the industry. The educational program has launched the careers of many of today’s leading classical ensembles, including eighth blackbird, Calidore String Quartet, Pacifica, Jupiter and Ariel Quartets, Axiom Brass, Donald Sinta Quartet and the Claremont Trio. The Shouse Institute is under the direction of violinist Philip Setzer, a founding member of the Emerson String Quartet. Setzer has been a regular faculty member of the Isaac Stern Chamber Music Workshops at Carnegie Hall and the Jerusalem Music Center. He also teaches as a distinguished professor of violin and Chamber Music at SUNY Stony Brook and has given masterclasses at schools around the world, including The Curtis Institute, London’s Royal Academy of Music and the San Francisco Conservatory. “It is vitally important for gifted ensembles to have a place to go where they can hone their skills and have the opportunity to culminate in public performances,” said Setzer. “This kind of experience can be so helpful to young chamber groups.” This year, the Festival invites the Rolston String Quartet, F-PLUS, Viano String Quartet and the Pelia String Quartet to perform. In partnership with the Sphinx Organization, the Festival welcomes violist Kevonna Shuford as part of this year’s Shouse Institute. In addition to performing on mainstage concerts, Shouse musicians will take masterclass coaching sessions from Festival artists called “Artistic Encounters.” Setzer, along with violinist and violist Yura Lee, violinist Tai Murray, and Artistic Director Paul Watkins will lead these coaching sessions. The sessions will take place at 11 a.m. at Kirk in the Hills (1340 W Long Lake Rd, Bloomfield Township, Mich. 48302): June 14 with Yura Lee June 16 with Tai Murray June 21 with Philip Setzer June 23 with Paul Watkins |
| Festival subscribers receive free access to attend these events and nonsubscribers can buy tickets for $5 each. Setzer will also lead the Shouse artists in “Musical Chairs” on June 24 at 11 a.m. at Kirk in the Hills. All 15 Shouse musicians will mix and match as they take turns performing in a rotating ensemble. Tickets to this event are $15. Tickets to these events, as well as mainstage concerts, can be bought at: https://greatlakeschambermusic.org/performances/ Press tickets to events are available. Contact Priya Mohan at mohan@art-ops.org or call 248-559-2097 |
| About the Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival The Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival was born in 1994 of a remarkable relationship between religious and cultural institutions. A secular event, the Festival is sponsored by three religious institutions (representing Catholic, Jewish and Protestant faiths) and Detroit Chamber Winds & Strings, a prominent musical ensemble that is an administrative partner for the Festival. Traditionally, for two weeks each June, the Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival presents more than 20 concerts in southeastern Michigan. Many of these performances occur in the venues of the Festival’s sponsors — St. Hugo of the Hills Catholic Church, Temple Beth El and Kirk in the Hills. |
