Chamber Music Series: The Florida Chamber Music Project

The Florida Chamber Music Project (FCMP) members represent the amazing string sections of the Jacksonville Symphony.  The quartet, widely praised for its musicality and technically flawless performances, is comprised of violinists Igor Khukhua and Patrice Evans, violist Susan Pardue and cellist, Laurie D. Casseday. Mr. Khukhua, a native of Siberia, began winning prizes for his expertise on the violin at age 8.

In 2016, while a member of the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, he came to the United States to study music at Park University. He became a member of the Jacksonville Symphony in 2022. Violinist Patrice Evans studied with members of the Cleveland Orchestra at an early age, won a full tuition scholarship in violin to FSU, and joined the JSO in 1989.  Susan Pardue, violist, earned a master’s degree at the Juilliard School and is the founder and artistic director of the Florida Chamber Music Project.  Cellist Laurie Casseday hails from Atlanta where she began cello studies at the age of eight.  She is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music and also earned a Master’s Degree from Georgia State University.  Laurie has been a member of JSO since 1986.

Their program will feature two quartets:

Quartet, in G Major, Opus 77, No 1: Joseph Haydn

String Quartet in F Major, Op. 41, No.2: Robert Schumann

Haydn was the father of the string quartet, writing 68 quartets spanning his entire career. He had a pivotal place in music history, being born when Vivaldi and Bach were still in their prime and living until the Romantic era was ushered in by Beethoven. Schumann continued in the Romantic tradition, revering the works of Haydn and Mozart and being profoundly influenced by the works of Beethoven.

The concert will begin at noon in the Memorial Presbyterian Chapel on Monday, May 6.