Funded by an IDEA grant from the Florida State University Center for Undergraduate Research and Academic Engagement, three undergraduate String Performance majors aim to bring classical chamber music to diverse audiences.
Beginning this summer, Carly Fulcher, Matthew Holzaepfel, and Erica Kremer will lead a workshop with a pilot group of fellow String Performance students in order to study and practice audience engagement and interactive performance skills. Over the course of 8 weeks, these workshops will feature speakers from the Robert McDuffie Center for Strings, Carnegie Mellon University, and the Juilliard School, as well as those with experience leading and developing education initiatives for the Philadelphia Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center, and El Sistema USA. Each speaker has expertise in various areas of interactive performance and will share their personal experience and teachings with the group. With the help of these speakers and supplementary books and educational materials, the group will plan and program a series of chamber music concerts in various (often unconventional) venues, tailored for each audience. The second part of the project will begin in the fall and will consist of a chamber music outreach concert series to bring classical music to the broader Tallahassee community.