Arianna
String
Quartet
Educational
Outreach
 

In March of 2024, the Eureka Chamber Music Series created a unique educational opportunity for music students in Humboldt County, presenting one of our country's leading string quartets and music educators, the Arianna String Quartet, for a one week educational residency. Due to the tremendous success of the program, ECMS is bringing back the Arianna String Quartet in February, 2026. Over the course of one week, the members of the Arianna Quartet will work intensively with approximately one hundred music students from six local high schools and middle schools. The program will consist of:
 

• The four quartet members begin by leading coaching sessions at participating schools during the students’ regular music class time.

• Then the Arianna Quartet will lead an immersive evening rehearsal and performance seminar that brings together all participating schools into a single chamber orchestra.  

• The residency will culminate in a public side by side performance of the student chamber orchestra led by the Arianna String Quartet at Eureka High School.  

 

This residency week was developed in consultation with community education leader Cassandra Moulton, who is the ArMac Orchestra director at Arcata HS and Mckinleyville HS, and director of AHS Choral Music and Arcata Arts Institute Music. The program is specifically tailored to support local music teachers and provide them with the program they dream of but simply don’t have the resources to accomplish in any other way. In the words of Ms. Moulton, "Previous to the 2024 outreach, we never had the opportunity to have an immersive program like this in our relatively remote community. This program will continue to inspire and motivate our young musicians, which is particularly important in times when it feels like an uphill struggle to keep our music programs healthy and thriving."

 

This program will reach hundreds of people including student musician participants, their siblings and parents, music educators, and all concert attendees. Universally, artists, educators, and parents share personal stories of how a single exposure to live performance of this caliber transforms a young person’s life. In some cases, this inspiration leads to a serious career in music while in other cases it helps to lay the groundwork to strive for excellence that leads to success in a variety of fields. We also observe that students who participate in arts activities such as this develop heightened discipline, teamwork, creativity and self-esteem. Participation in the arts has also been found to have beneficial impacts on mental health.