On the Lansing Symphony’s season-opening concert next Thursday, “Violinist Melissa White, who grew up in Lansing and is now a mainstay of the globe-spanning Harlem Quartet, will bask in the solo spotlight for two epic-romantic French effusions by Ernst Chausson and Camille Saint-Saëns,” writes Lawrence Cosentino in Wednesday’s (10/11) Lansing City Pulse (Mich.). “White comes back to Lansing for holidays and family visits, but hasn’t appeared with the Lansing Symphony since March 2011, for a soaring ride through Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto…. Every weekend, for four or five years, White listened obsessively to [Chausson’s] ‘Poème,’ on repeat play, while driving with her mother from Lansing to Chicago for lessons. She learned the piece in college but has not yet played it with an orchestra. ‘Now I get to perform it, not only with an orchestra, but back home, and my mom will be there,’ she said.… White’s main gig is the Harlem Quartet [which] uses much of its energy to reach out to young people … who haven’t gotten much exposure to classical music. The quartet’s ever-growing tours and commitments have made it harder for White to do solo engagements, but she called it a ‘fun challenge.’ ”
Posted October 12, 2018
