St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church on Signal Mountain will host Kazanetti, an Atlanta based string quartet on Sept. 9, at 2 p.m.
Recently returned from the Czech Republic as one of the selected quartets to perform at the Smetana Conference in Prague, the Kazanetti String Quartet has been performing and teaching together since 1996, joining decades of musical training from Indiana University, Cincinnati Conservatory, University of Maryland, and Georgia State University. This award-winning group has distinguished itself across the country through its diverse programming and its commitment to excellence and education.
Kazanetti has been honored with a Chamber Music Rural Residency Grant in 2002, invited to study and perform at the annual Kent Music Festival sponsored by the Manhattan String Quartet, and in 2003, was the opening act at the nationally renowned Silverton Folk Festival. More recently, Kazanetti has expanded its classical programs through collaboration with the Celtic band Mickle-a-do, and Atlanta’s Capital City Opera.
The program for the afternoon is Passacaglia for Violin and Viola by Johan Halvorsen, Quartet No. 23 in F Major, K 590 by W. A. Mozart, and Bedrich Smetana’s String Quartet No. 1, From my Life.
The concert is free and open to the public; however, contributions for Kazanetti’s expenses will be gratefully accepted.
St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church is located at 630 Mississippi Ave. on Signal Mountain.
Members of the group include:
Violin ~ Michele Mariage-Volz
Michele R. Mariage-Volz attended Indiana State University, and Georgia State University. She has performed regularly with regional orchestras in Illinois, Indiana, Georgia, Alabama, and the Colorado Philharmonic and has been a core member of the Atlanta Opera Orchestra since 1992. She regularly substitutes with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and serves as Concertmaster of the Capital City Opera in Atlanta, Georgia. In addition, Ms. Mariage-Volz is constantly in demand as a studio musician in the Atlanta area and has recorded for Usher, Goodymob, and Tasha as well as R&B and commercial sessions.
Ms. Mariage-Volz also maintains a teaching studio that prepares students for Atlanta Youth Orchestra, Metropolitan Youth Orchestra, DeKalb Youth Symphony Orchestra, and Georgia All-State Orchestras. Her students have gone on to attend colleges such as Indiana University, Pepperdine, N.Y.U and North Carolina School of the Arts.
She lives in Atlanta, Georgia with her husband Ron and two daughters, Rachael and Christina – all of whom are well-known musicians.
VIOLIN ~ Elizabeth Alvarez
A native of the South, Elizabeth Alvarez, violinist and violist, is a founding member of Kazanetti. She received her Bachelor’s degree with honors from Indiana University. Upon returning to Atlanta she continued her education with a teaching assistantship at Georgia State University where she earned a Masters of Music in Music Theory and later continued with doctoral studies in Musicology at the University of Maryland.
Ms. Alvarez has performed across the Southeast with orchestras including Columbus, Alabama and Charleston Symphonies as both violinist and violist. She was the violinist for the production of Steven Sondheim’s A Little Night Music in this year’s Piccolo Spoleto and is active in the Charleston chamber music scene on both violin and viola. Ms. Alvarez has taught violin and viola privately and music theory both privately and in the classroom for over twenty years. She also enjoys transcription work and is currently at work on a number of projects.
Her home is in Charleston, S.C. with her husband and two young children.
VIOLA ~ Julie Rosseter
Julie Rosseter is an award winning violist, currently a core member of the Atlanta Opera Orchestra, substitute performer with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, and a founding member of the Kazanetti String Quartet. After graduating from Indiana University with a degree in music performance, Ms. Rosseter won the prestigious Blumfield Fellowship and earned her Masters degree at Wichita State University where she was Assistant Principal violist of the Wichita Symphony. While at Duquesne University as a result of being awarded an Artist Diploma Fellowship, she was a member of the Pittsburgh Opera, the Keystone chamber Players, and was named Young Artist in Residence at Penn State University’s Penn’s Woods Festival. She has served as violist with the Columbus (GA) Symphony, the Alabama Symphony, and the Atlanta Virtuosi. A highly sought-after teacher in the Atlanta area, she has prepared students for numerous Atlanta youth orchestras and for acceptance into top music conservatories across the country.
Active in her church and community, Ms. Rosseter lives in Suwanee, Ga. with her husband and their two children.
VIOLONCHELLO ~ George Butler
George Butler is a graduate of the College-Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati and has studied additionally at the Westminster Choir College and the Cincinnati Christian University. At 17, Mr. Butler was the only instrumentalist from Ohio chosen to perform on cello in a national youth symphony orchestra at Carnegie Hall under the direction of Leopold Stokowski. He earned a Bachelor of Performing Arts degree at the College-Conservatory. Mr. Butler has been a professional musician for over thirty years. In addition to performing on the cello, he has directed church music full-time for most of that time. Mr. Butler now teaches many students in private lessons in the Atlanta area. He is a sought-after free lance musician there, and is the minister of music at Grace United Methodist Church in that city’s downtown.