MARIAN ANDERSON STRING QUARTET
BELIEVES CLASSICAL MUSIC IS FOR EVERYONE
Award-winning String Ensemble is Devoted to Community Outreach

They are the first African American music ensemble to win a major competition in the field of classical music. But what's even more wonderful about the Anderson String Quartet is their devotion to community outreach.

They have given concerts at Alice Tully Hall in New York and the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., as well as soup kitchens and institutions for the criminally insane. They have given a concert at the Chateau Cantanac-Brown in Bordeaux, France and performed live on "Good Morning America" after performing at President Clinton's 1992 inauguration. They've also performed at juvenile correctional facilities. They teach on a regular basis in inner city classrooms.

The Anderson Quartet takes seriously its philosophy that classical music is literally meant for everyone. "We're trying to break down that barrier, the belief that classical music is elitist," says cellist Michael Cameron.

Even when giving "formal" concerts, they will schmooze between the playing of each musical work.

They entered Rice University's Shepherd School of Music this fall to study in the Quartet -more- Training Program under the direction of Professor of Cello Paul Katz, and will study at Rice for two years.

Marianne Henry, a founding member of the group, says that the musicians originally came together because they were friends who happened to be African American. But once they saw the response they were getting from minority audiences they realized that they were role models.

They see their time with the children as being more than teaching scales.

"It's so much bigger than the music," says Lawrence. "They're budding human beings and everything you do with them is important: The way you speak to them, look at them, hug them. When I take the girls to the ladies' room, I always have them look in the mirror and remind them of how beautiful they are. These are the kind of things that count for life."

Their own lives have certainly not been short on variety. In '93, they performed at the inaugural celebration for President Clinton. A few years earlier, when they lived in New York City, the female members of the quartet performed on the sidewalk for tips and drew huge crowds that spilled into the street. They would often get marriage proposals from strangers. In '97, Lawrence received and accepted a proposal from someone she knew-- Cameron.

When they lived in New York City, they spent considerable time working with children at the Harlem School of the Arts. The quartet members will be in Manhattan this summer and plan to spend more time at the school.

Winner of the International Cleveland Quartet Competition, the group is named after the legendary contralto Marian Anderson.