From the award-winning Elgin Symphony Orchestra comes a quartet of its finest string players, the ESO String Quartet, who will perform a concert of masterworks including a string quartet by the beloved French composer, Gabriel Faure, in centenary commemoration of his passing in 1924.
The ESO String Quartet is comprised of violinists Carol Dylan and Caroline Slack, violist Loretta Gillespie, and cellist Sara Sitzer.
First violinist Carol Dylan earned a Master's degree in violin performance from the Eastman School of Music. She plays in the first violin section of ESO, sreves as assistant concertmaster of the Chicago Sinfonietta Orchestra, and has participated in numerous European and American tours. Second violinist Caroline Slack recently joined ESO, and is concurrently a member of the Chicago Sinfonietta Orchestra, Illinois Philhamonic Orchestra, and Des Moines Metro Opera. She is also an active chamber musician. Caroline holds degrees from Oberlin Conservatory of Music and the Butler School of Music at the University of Texas in Austin.
Violist Loretta Gillespie has been a member of the ESO's viola section since 1998. Having begun viola studies at age 10, Loretta went on to earn a Bachelor of Music degree from Northern Illinois University, and completed graduate-level study in viola performance at the University of Houston. Cellist Sara Sitzer leads a varied life as an orchestral, chamber and solo performer, as well as entrepreneur, administrator and music writer. She has performed throughout the U.S. and in Israel, Japan, England, Australia, and Russia. Sara is a co-founder of Chamber Music on the Fox. In addition to being a long-time member of the ESO cello section, she has performed regularly with the Miwaukee Sympohony Orchestra and Chicago Opera Theater. Sara earned a Master of Music degree from the University of Wisconsin, and completed a three-year fellowship with the New World Symphony in Miami under the direction of Michael Tilson Thomas.