About us
Crystal
Pascucci, founder and cellist of Quartetto Vivo, specializes in
chamber music and free improvisation. In 2007, she founded the
Empire String Quartet, which studied with the renowned St. Lawrence
String Quartet at Stanford University, and performed at the Lyricafest
and Wintergreen festivals. With over five years of free improvisation
instruction under David Rudge and Robert Black, Crystal has performed
and recorded with numerous improvisation groups, which has included
aleatoric music and film scores. Crystal received her Graduate
Professional Degree in cello performance from the Hartt School
of Music under Mihai Tetel, and her B.M. from SUNY Fredonia under
Natasha Farny. She has also studied at NYU with Marion Feldman,
and has played in many master classes for artists such as Marcy
Rosen, Peter Oundjian and Clive Greensmith.
Violinist and violist Anna Griffis made her orchestral debut at
age fifteen as a soloist with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.
She is a recent prize winner at the 2008 Van Rooy Competition
for Musical Excellence. A member of the Anatolion Trio, which
has toured the U.S. and Turkey, Anna is also a founding member
and concertmaster of the Hartt Independent Chamber Orchestra,
which works to promote the performance of contemporary American
and Turkish music. As a baroque violinist and violist, Anna is
a member of the Foundling Baroque Orchestra and Advocacy Project
based out of Providence, RI and has played with Tempesta Di Mare
and Vancouver Early Music. Anna holds a B.M. from the Hartt School
of Music, where she studied under Anton Miller. She has collaborated
with Joshua Rifkin, Emlyn Ngai, Marc Destrube and Marylin McDonald.
Russell Podgorsek, violist and composer, was recently commissioned
by the Salisbury Symphony Orchestra to write his MicroSymphony,
and by the Sudbury Youth Orchestra for his Lament and Lullaby
for string orchestra. He is a founding member of the Miklos Quartet,
whose unique approach to music of all styles and perspectives
has brought them on numerous tours and residencies throughout
the Northeast and Midwest. Russell is a graduate of the Hartt
School of Music and the University of Dayton, where he studied
composition with David Macbride, Larry Alan Smith and Phillip
Magnuson. He was recently featured as composer-in-residence for
the 2008 Simsbury Chamber Music Festival, where his music was
performed by the New World Trio and Les Inegales. He has been
awarded numerous grants and fellowships including a Creative Connections
Award.
Allison
McCann received her B.M. from the Eastman School of Music in 2004,
where she studied under Lynn Blakeslee. She is currently completing
her M.M. in Violin Performance and Suzuki Pedagogy at the Hartt
School of Music, from where she also holds a M.M.Ed. with a concentration
in performance. Allison has been awarded numerous scholarships,
including the Howard Hanson scholarship (Eastman), and the Merit
Scholarship (Hartt). She received long-term Suzuki training under
Teri Einfelt, and has also studied with Mickey Reisman and Brian
Lewis.
