Fry Street Quartet Featured in NEA Annual Report

Fry Street Quartet Featured in NEA Annual Report

The National Endowment for the Arts released its annual report for the previous year (2002) last December. Included in that report was a highlight of the Fry Street Quartet, the faculty string quartet now in residence at Utah State University. The quartet was recognized for its participation in NEA's Chamber Music Rural Residencies Program. A photograph of quartet member Rebecca McFaul working with a child illustrated the section of the report.

"As a featured participant in this report, the Fry Street Quartet's image highlights the best artistic achievements in this country," NEA Chair Dana Gioia said in a letter to members of the quartet. "The text of our report tells the story of these achievements, but it is the pictures that best capture and reflect the crucial role the arts play in American lives.

"As we celebrate the success of the Arts Endowment, we know that this success depends on groups like yours as active contributors to the thriving arts community in the United States. We are grateful for your participation."

The Chamber Music Rural Residencies program was created in 1992 through a partnership between the Arts Endowment and Chamber Music America to provide access to classical chamber music to underserved communities. The program is also supported by the Helen F. Whitaker Fund and JPMorgan Chase. Chamber ensembles are placed in selected rural communities for several months, performing, teaching and providing a range of community-based activities.

The Western Piedmont Symphony in Hickory, North Carolina, hosted the Fry Street Quartet during a three-year residency in the community as part of the Chamber Music Rural Residencies program.

"The residency clearly paid off for the quartet," NEA's annual report said. "Over the three-year period, the quartet developed and honed its sound, winning first prize in two national competitions. Following the completion of its three-year residency in May 2002, the quartet was sponsored by Carnegie Hall and the U.S. Department of State to participate in a concert tour of the Balkan states as ambassadors of the Carnegie Fellows Program. ... In September 2002, they became the Faculty String Quartet in Residence at Utah State University."