Anton Arensky – String Quartet in A Minor

John Macfarlane, violin
Anthony Devroye, viola
Brant Taylor, cello
Kenneth Olsen, cello

5:00pm – Doors Open
5:15pm – Pre-Concert Conversation
5:45pm – 30-Minute Concert

FREE

John Macfarlane, violin

 • Assistant principal second violin, Lyric Opera Orchestra
 • Conducted Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas in Iowa City and was also assistant conductor for Mozart’s Cosi fan tutte and Bernstein’s Candide at Cedar Rapids Opera Theatre
 • Conducted performances of Poulenc’s Le bal masqué, Wagner’s Sigfried Idyll and Copland’s Appalachian Spring for previous Rush Hour Concerts

Anthony Devroye, viola

 • Violist of the Avalon String Quartet and Associate Professor at the Northern Illinois University School of Music
 • Artistic Director of Rush Hour Concerts since 2014
 • Born in Belgium but raised in New Jersey (a progression that a prominent acquaintance once described as “anti-climactic”)

Brant Taylor, cello

 • Cellist in Chicago Symphony Orchestra and faculty at DePaul University School of Music
 • Holds a private pilot’s license
 • Completed a 10-day silent meditation retreat in 2016

Kenneth Olsen, cello

 • joined the Chicago Symphony Orchestra as assistant principal cello in 2005
 • A native of New York, Kenneth is a founding member of the East Coast Chamber Orchestra, a conductorless string orchestra comprised of young musicians from orchestras and ensembles all over the country.
 • Kenneth is a graduate of the Cleveland Institute of Music and a winner of the school’s prestigious concerto competition. His other awards include first prize in the Nakamichi Cello Competition at the Aspen Music Festival and second prize at the 2002 Holland-America Music Society Competition.