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New Group Achieves Harmony, Seeks Identity

The classical music scene at Harvard just got a little easier on the ear: Harvard students have founded an as-yet unnamed chamber music group featuring some of Harvard's best musicians. The 13-member group, which had its premiere performance last month, will have a quartet of its members performing later today for a Harvard Museum art break, and the group hopes to hold larger concerts on campus next semester.

Jennifer G. Lee '01, an accomplished cellist, was inspired to found the chamber music group while working at a music management company this summer.

"I was thinking 'Wouldn't it be cool if I started my own thing, managed it, saw how it worked, and of course played in it as well,'" she said.

The group took shape in early October as Lee approached friends and musical acquaintances about joining the group.

"It started very casually, the idea was that maybe we could give a concert each semester," Lee said.

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Organizing 13 musicians with typically busy schedules was not, Lee found, an easy task.

"Coordinating schedules is a mess," she said. "But my thought was that because these people are so good, if they had just looked at their music, then we'd be fine as an ensemble."

And fine they were. Group participants and audience members said they were pleased with the premiere Nov. 20 performance and looking forward to a repeat.

"If I'd been in the group, I'd still be patting myself on the back," said Elizabeth S. Mahler '01, a violinist who attended the performance.

Group members said they found playing together for the first time exhilarating.

"The audience was so supportive, and we were all really energized," said Jennifer M. Caine '01, a violinist in the group.

The group has yet to agree on a name for themselves, and asked the audience for suggestions at their last concert.

"We're going to discuss it soon," Caine said.

The 13 players also lack a conductor. The group did get one coaching session with the Mendelsohn String Quartet, but they generally rely on collective past experience and carefully-honed instincts to constructively criticize themselves.

"The way we left it was that everyone would pitch in when they had something to say," Lee said.

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