Hilltop String Quartet Performs in St. Louis Festival

This June, Bradley’s Hilltop String Quartet performed at the Touhill Performing Arts Center in St. Louis.

The quartet members, all Bradley music students, were awarded scholarships to study at the international 2015 Arianna Chamber Music Festival held at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. They worked intensively with the professional Arianna String Quartet for two weeks, and performed at the Touhill as well as at other venues in St. Louis.

The quartet is comprised of Bradley music majors Julie Haring, Molly Wilson, Lindsay Kozlowski, and Billy Akers. Julie is a senior Violin Performance major from New Lenox, Molly is a sophomore Violin Performance major from Peoria, Lindsay is a junior violist majoring in Music Education from Orland Park, and Billy, a cellist, is a Music Education major, from Morton.

The Hilltop String Quartet performs concerts on campus, and plays for university functions and community events. In January 2015 they performed at the state convention of Illinois ASTA (American String Teachers Association). Marcia Henry Liebenow, from the Department of Music, is their advisor and coach.

Molly Wilson said, “The festival was a great time of growth for us as an ensemble. I look forward to bringing our experience back to the Bradley Symphony Orchestra this fall."

Julie Haring said, "Attending the Arianna Chamber Music Festival for the last two years has been a rewarding experience that has taught me how to work on every detail of performing chamber music. Working with three young men from Colombia, South America at last year’s festival helped show me that music has no language barrier. I feel very fortunate."

Arianna String Quartet with Hilltop String Quartet students Pictured L-R: John McGrosso, Julie Haring, Molly Wilson, Julia Sakharova, Joanna Mendoza, Lindsay Kozlowski, Billy Akers, Kurt Baldwin.