SCSU Partners with Music Haven

Wed., Dec 07

The School of Arts and Sciences, in an effort to provide access to a form of music making that is not currently represented on campus, has extended to Music Haven and its official resident ensemble, the Haven String Quartet, the opportunity to be in residence at Southern. Music Haven's mission is "to use a string quartet to build a vibrant urban community through performance and music education that empowers young people, their families, and professional musicians."

The Haven String Quartet will integrate into campus life in a number of capacities: via concerts, workshops and class participation.  In addition, the group will have the opportunity to offer its high school outreach program on the Southern campus once the program is initiated. The Southern community can expect concerts and learning opportunities to take place on campus for the next few years. 

Music Haven was founded on the idea that excellence and equity need not be competing or mutually exclusive goals, and that all people should have access to quality arts learning opportunities. The organization was also founded with the goal of bringing together people of all races, ethnicities, socio-economic class, genders, and ages to support each other through music, to make the world a better place.

Yale School of Music graduate Tina Lee Hadari founded Music Haven in 2006. Convinced that a professional string quartet could contribute to social change in New Haven's urban communities, she created the opportunity for a string quartet to teach and perform in four of the city's most underserved neighborhoods. 

In collaboration with generous individual donors in the New Haven region, a small Board of Directors, and the Vinca Quartet, Hadari launched Music Haven to provide programs that engage and inspire New Haven youth and their families.

In the Fall of 2008, the Haven String Quartet was founded to fulfill the needs of Music Haven's mission. Each member of the Haven String Quartet teaches instrument lessons, mentors students, and performs for the entire community.

The quartet's first on-campus concert will take place on January 24, 2012, at 8 p.m. in the Charles Garner Recital Hall (Engleman C112).

(Pictured above, from left to right: Yaira Matyakubova, violinist; Matt Beckmann, cellist; DonnaJean Fredeen, dean of the School of Arts & Sciences; Colin Benn, violist; and Tina Lee Hadari, violinist and executive director of Music Haven)