MELROSE — The Nissitissit String Quartet returns with their 2023 concert, “American Originals,” to the Melrose Veterans Memorial Middle School Courtyard on Friday, July 28 at 6:30 p.m.
The program covers musical genres from revolutionary times to the present, starting with an early American suite, a Joplin rag, jazz standards from Harold Arlen, George Gershwin, and Cole Porter, folk masterpieces including Mark O’Connor’s Appalachia Waltz and Aaron Copland’s “Hoedown,” rock tunes from Elvis to the Beach Boys, Broadway favorites featuring the Beauty and the Beast theme and selections from West Side Story, and a nod to Hollywood with a medley from Pirates of the Caribbean – all of it as American as apple pie.
This free concert is supported in part by the Melrose Cultural Council, a local agency which is supported by the Mass Cultural Council, a state agency.
The Nissitissit String Quartet is four long-time colleagues and friends who are committed to serving Middlesex County communities, offering multi-generational concerts that are fun and engaging for a wide audience.
Lisa Kempskie has a degree in violin from UMass Lowell and has done graduate work at the UConn, Storrs. Equally comfortable on violin and viola, she is principal viola of the Lexington Symphony.
Peter Stickel is the violinist for the New England Tenors. He is co-founder and long-time executive director of New England String Ensemble.
Valerie Callahan has taught and performed on the violin and viola since childhood. She has a Master’s in String Performance from the Boston Conservatory and heads the string program in Dracut.
Co-founder of New England String Ensemble, John Bumstead is a Boston area freelance musician performing regularly with Symphony by the Sea and North Shore Music Theater. John is cello professor at UMass Lowell.