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Contact:
Lois Pozega
Executive Director
440-284-0494
[email protected]
www.familypromiselorainco.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 16, 2015
Amici String Quartet to perform Benefit Concert for Family Promise of Lorain County:
Sunday, April 19, 2015 at 3:00 PM
The Cleveland Orchestra's Amici String Quartet—Takako Masame and Miho Hashizume,
violins, Lynne Ramsey, viola, and Ralph Curry, cello—joins forces with double bassist Mark
Atherton and pianist James Howsmon to play a benefit concert for Family Promise of Lorain
County on Sunday, April 19, 2015. The concert will be held at 3:00 PM in the Meeting House of
First Church Oberlin, UCC, at the corner of Main and Lorain Streets in Oberlin, Ohio. The
concert is free and open to the public; donations to support Family Promise will be accepted.
This is the ninth annual benefit concert for Family Promise of Lorain County, a vital community
agency that helps homeless families get back on their feet. Through its Interfaith Hospitality
Network, Family Promise partners with local congregations and volunteers to shelter, feed, and
care for families who have no place to live. They also host a Day Center, which will soon
relocate to permanent quarters in Oberlin. The Day Center provides a way for parents and
children to be together during the day, and the staff helps parents to access social services
and to find housing and jobs to sustain their families. At intermission in the concert, Family
Promise Executive Director Lois Pozega will address the audience about the agency’s mission
and will introduce former clients who will tell inspirational stories of the help they have
received. A “meet the artists” reception will follow the concert.
The Amici String Quartet, founded in 1985 by four members of The Cleveland Orchestra, is
making its second benefit appearance for Family Promise. The current roster are all string
section players in The Cleveland Orchestra, as is bassist Atherton. Pianist Howsmon is
Professor of Instrumental Accompanying at Oberlin Conservatory. The quartet will open the
concert with Beethoven’s String Quartet No.2 in G major, Op.18, No. 2. After intermission they
will be joined by Atherton and Howsmon to play Schubert’s beloved “Trout” Piano Quintet in A
major, D.667, featuring First Church’s 1911 Steinway piano, which was recently completely
refurbished by Oberlin Conservatory master piano technician John Cavanaugh. Family
Promise is deeply grateful to the musicians for donating their time and talents for this event.
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Background
Family Promise of Lorain County was started in 2008 by local business people who have a
heart for their community. Through its Interfaith Hospitality Network of congregations and
volunteers it meets homeless families' immediate needs for shelter, meals, and comprehensive
support services. The Lorain County Family Promise program utilizes a cost-efficient and
effective community response to the local declining housing situation. Family Promise provide
a way to house families who are experiencing homelessness by uniting 5 distinct components:
host congregations, volunteers, social service agencies, a day center, and transportation.
Guests in the program are moms, dads, or couples with children. During the day, guest
families stay at a day center. While there, the Network Director, who manages all components
of the program, works intensively with the families as they seek childcare, housing, jobs, and
other needed resources. At night, guest families stay at a host congregation which provides
shelter, meals, and support. Volunteers prepare meals, provide supplies, host evening
activities, sleep overnight, staff the day center, and most importantly provide human
compassion. A Network van is available to transport guests between host congregations and
the day center; children are transported to their schools of origin, providing for continuity in
their education during a time of instability. Find more information at: familypromiselorainco.org.
Amici String Quartet was founded in 1985 by four members of The Cleveland Orchestra. The
quartet has appeared in concert series such as Chamber Music at Stan Hywet Hall, the
Columbus Museum of Art, and the Cleveland Museum of Art as well as performances in
Pennsylvania, Florida, Japan, Scotland, and concert halls and college campuses throughout
Ohio. Having a strong interest in educating young audiences, the Amici Quartet has presented
concerts at various Ohio public schools and has performed on The Cleveland Orchestra’s
Rainbow Music Series. As members of The Cleveland Orchestra, the Amici Quartet regularly
collaborates with colleagues in the diverse chamber music repertoire for larger ensembles.
Takako Masame, violinist, has been a member of The Cleveland Orchestra since 1985. Before
coming to Cleveland, she was a member of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra. An active
chamber musician, she has collaborated with many chamber ensembles throughout the United
States. Ms. Masame is a founding member of the Amici Quartet, which is composed of
members of The Cleveland Orchestra. She is also a member of the Cleveland Chamber
Collective. Born in Tokyo, Ms. Masame attended the Toho Gakuen School of Music there, from
which she earned a bachelor’s degree in music. She earned an artist diploma from the New
England Conservatory, where she was a full scholarship student of Dorothy DeLay.
Miho Hashizume, violinist, was born and raised in Tokyo. She joined The Cleveland Orchestra
in 1995, after serving as a member of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. A member of the first
violin section, she also is a longtime member of Apollo’s Fire/The Cleveland Baroque
Orchestra and has appeared as a soloist with the group at festivals in Aspen, Boston, Detroit,
and Indianapolis, as well as at the Idea Center at PlayhouseSquare. She has also appeared as
a soloist with the Fort Collins Symphony and the Toronto Symphony. Ms. Hashizume performs
with Cleveland Orchestra colleagues in the Amici String Quartet. She has taught at the Oberlin
College Conservatory of Music and coached students at Case Western Reserve University.
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Educated at the Toho School of Music in Tokyo, Ms. Hashizume earned both a high-school
diploma and a bachelor of music degree from the institution. She also studied at the University
of Wyoming and at the Cleveland Institute of Music. Her teachers were Masahiro Arita, Angela
Eto, Toshiya Eto, Brian Hanly, David Updegraff, Ami Watanabe, and Natsumi Wakamatsu.
Miho Hashizume plays an A&H Amati violin.
Lynne Ramsey, violist, has performed as a soloist with The Cleveland Orchestra, Cleveland
Chamber Symphony, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, and the North Carolina Symphony. A
member of The Cleveland Orchestra since January 1989, Ms. Ramsey taught at Oberlin
College Conservatory of Music from 1985 to1997. She currently teaches at the Cleveland
Institute of Music and is on faculty at the Aspen Music Festival and School. Before coming to
Cleveland, she served as principal viola of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra and the
Rochester Philharmonic. Active as a chamber musician, Ms. Ramsey is a member of the
Amici Quartet and the newly formed Panorámicos.
Ralph Curry, cellist, cut short his studies at the Cleveland Institute of Music to accept a oneyear substitute cello position with the New York Philharmonic, He held the principal cello chair
of the Colorado Philharmonic and performed as a member of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra
before joining The Cleveland Orchestra in 1978. Mr. Curry has appeared as a soloist with the
Colorado Philharmonic and with the symphony orchestra of Detroit and Pittsburgh. Mr. Curry
attended Kent/Blossom Music and the Colorado Philharmonic (now the National Repertory
Orchestra). Born in Pittsburgh, Mr. Curry studied with Stephen Geber (former principal cello of
The Cleveland Orchestra), Robert Newkirk, and Allen Sher. He has participated in
masterclasses with Mstislav Rostropovich, Janos Starker, Zara Nelsova, and the Guarneri
String Quartet. Formerly, Mr. Curry performed with the Severance Trio. Currently, he plays
chamber music as a member of the Amici String Quartet.
Mark Atherton, double bassist, has been a member of the Cleveland Orchestra since 1983.
Prior to coming to Cleveland, Mr. Atherton was with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra for
two seasons. A native of Schenectady, New York, Mr. Atherton studied with David Cobb, and
then at Boston University’s School for the Arts with Henry Portnoi, the former Principal Bassist
of the Boston Symphony. While in Boston, he was a member of the Boston Pops Esplanade
Orchestra, the Opera Company of Boston, and the Handel and Haydn Society. In Cleveland,
he was also a member of Myriad Chamber Ensemble, has soloed with the Trinity Chamber
Orchestra, and currently performs with the Cleveland Orchestra Bass Quartet. Mr. Atherton
has served on the faculties of The Cleveland Institute of Music and Kent State University,
teaches privately, and serves as coach for the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra bass
section. In addition he has been giving classroom presentations in Cleveland area schools
with The Cleveland Orchestra’s Learning Through Music program since its inception.
James Howsmon, pianist, has collaborated in more than 1,000 recitals in North America,
Europe, and Japan and has performed with principal players of every major American
orchestra. In recent seasons, he has played in New York, Chicago, San Francisco,
Washington, D.C. (at the Kennedy Center), Philadelphia, Dallas, Montreal, and Minneapolis.
Highlights of recent seasons include performances of Stravinsky’s Les Noces with the
Cleveland Orchestra, conducted by Pierre Boulez; an ongoing series of the complete Mozart
sonatas for piano and violin with violinist Marilyn McDonald; and several performances of
Schubert’s Die Schöne Müllerin with the prominent basso Robert Holl. He is a frequent
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performer on Oberlin College’s stages, having recently played the Poulenc Aubade with the
Oberlin Wind Ensemble and Olivier Messiaen’s Couleurs de la Cité Celeste with the Oberlin
Contemporary Music Ensemble. Mr. Howsmon is Professor of Instrumental Accompanying at
Oberlin, where he oversees the instrumental collaborative activities of the school’s 100 piano
majors. He is also on the faculty of Credo, a summer chamber music program held at Oberlin
College. From 1999 to 2006, Mr. Howsmon was on the piano faculty of the Brevard Music
Center. He has given guest master classes in accompanying and chamber music at, among
others, the Juilliard School, the Cleveland Institute of Music, the Interlochen Arts Academy,
Arizona State University, the University of Colorado, the University of Minnesota, and the
University of Alabama.
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