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About A Candlelit Christmas
We are thrilled to continue our Candlelit Christmas Concert tradition working once again with the Beaver Island Performing Arts Alliance to bring the Island a complimentary holiday event. This year the show will feature the accomplished Cummings Quartet with David Reimer (violin), Elise Greidanus (violin), Benjamin Wu (viola) and Greg Binger (cello). They’ll perform a broad range of holiday material on a candlelit stage with the BIC Center Theater decorated for the Christmas season.
About the Cummings Quartet
The Cummings Quartet is a northern Michigan-based ensemble of professionals who perform with the Traverse Symphony Orchestra and the Great Lakes Chamber Orchestra. Named after the benefactors of the Dorothy Gerber Strings Program, the quartet serves as teachers and artistic representatives of the Gerber program throughout the region.
The Cummings Quartet is committed to mentoring students by demonstrating the art of performance and engaging in a variety of teaching activities, including The Cummings Quartet Chamber Music Camp. The resident ensemble of the DGSP has performed throughout the region, including for the Great Lakes Chamber Orchestra Sunday Recital Series, the Park Church (Grand Rapids) Music at Mid-day Series, the Traverse Symphony Cordia Concert Series and at the historic Cheboygan Opera House.
The quartet is comprised of David Reimer, Rodrigo Quintana, Dr. Benjamin Wu and Elizabeth Bert.
About the members of the Cummings Quartet
David Reimer is the Director of the Dorothy Gerber Strings Program and serves as the quartet’s first violinist. He has degrees in violin performance from the Cleveland Institute of Music and the Ohio State University and recently was a professor of violin and Director of String Studies at Calvin College.
Rodrigo Zafani Quintana started his career in music in Sorocaba in 2004. He attended Brazil’s best institutions, including the Conservatory of Music and Drama, “Dr. Carlos de Campos” in Tatui, and the School of Music of the State of Sao Paulo. His primary teachers and mentors at those schools are Graziella Pagotto and Emmanuelle Baldini. Quintana has recently finished his Master’s degree in music performance under the tutelage of Dr. Laura Talbott-Clark at Oklahoma State University. Rodrigo received the Patti Johnson Wilson Foundation Fellowship in String Orchestral Performance in 2021 with the Tulsa Symphony Orchestra, Tulsa, Oklahoma. Rodrigo has been teaching since 2012 in private studio and music school settings. Mr. Quintana has taught students from all ages, from six years to fifty-three years. His teaching philosophy brings the concept of an infinite learning process that connects with personal growth. Rodrigo is currently in the process of acquiring a comprehensive Suzuki teaching certification.
Dr. Benjamin Wu is the Assistant Director of the DGSP and is the violist for The Cummings Quartet. Dr. Wu is a teacher, performer, improvisor and world traveler. He has performed in music festivals and events around the world, including the Nasimi music festival in Azerbaijan, the Pohoda festival in Slovakia, and at the Sydney Opera House in Australia; He has taught in several cities in the United States, where he served as Upper Strings Director for HomerOpus in Alaska; as well as Afghanistan, where he served as Artistic Director for the Afghanistan National Institute of Music.
Elizabeth Bert earned a degree in Music Education from the University of Toledo after initial studies at Michigan State and has now been a member of the Traverse Symphony for 40 years. She has performed with nearly every orchestra in northern Michigan and was recently on the faculty of Northwestern Michigan College.
About the Beaver Island Performing Arts Alliance
The Beaver Island Performing Arts Alliance (BIPAA) promotes the performing arts with its partners to enrich the greater Beaver Island community. This is the second holiday season where BIPAA has brought a special Christmas concert to the island. It is a way to say thank you to islanders for their support throughout the year while providing an additional performance opportunity for members of the BIPAA’s artistic community.
Each summer from the last weekend of July through the first weekend of August, the Baroque on Beaver Festival presents world-class orchestral, chamber, and vocal performances on the most remote inhabited island of the Great Lakes. In 2024 the Festival celebrates 23 years of bringing classical music to Beaver Island. Baroque on Beaver is the signature event of the BIPAA. BIPAA also produces the Beaver Island Jazz Series in cooperation with the BIC Center and WVBI. In 2024 it completed its third season with five performances over the course of the summer season (including one during Baroque week). The Jazz Series brings a variety of performers and jazz styles to the island. Music education is also part of the BIPAA’s work. We conduct a young artist contest each year and bring the winner to perform as part of the Baroque Festival events. We also support a summer orchestra camp as part of the Festival with Festival artists working and performing with students at the camp.
To learn more about our work, please visit us online. You may also donate directly as well as learn about volunteer and other opportunities to support our work here. If you would like to make a donation to help support BIPAA as part of your purchase for tickets to this event, look for the “BIPAA Donation” in ticket store or in the “You May Also Like” product list for any Baroque event and add that to your cart.
Celebrate the Holidays at the BIC Center
A Candlelit Christmas with the Cummings Quartet is just one of the holiday events at the BIC Center. Join us December 7th for a at 6 for an Island Community Christmas tree lighting and then a concert featuring the Stay Happy Band and readings by Robert Cole. There’ll be holiday treats and sweets, hot cocoa and a special visitor from the North Pole. On December 9th at 6:30 p.m. join us for tales of Christmases past, present and future in Charles DIckens’s A Christmas Carol. Presented in collaboration with the Great Lakes Center for the Arts, this one man show brings the holiday classic to the stage in a variation on the style used by Dickens himself to perform the show. Santa comes to the BIC Center on December 14th from 2 to 4 p.m. with photo opportunities, cookie making and special treats.
While there is no charge for admission to any of our holiday events, you should reserve seats for the play and the concerts at tickets.biccenter.org.
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