Last Friday around noon, Flashes in the dining area of the Design Innovation Hub were treated to a performance by a live string quartet.
Bright, vibrant music filled the space and selections ranged from pop to classic pop to classical, including music by Katy Perry, The Beatles and Mozart.
The group performing was The Glaser String Quartet, the graduate string quartet of Kent State’s School of Music. Its members are international graduate students in the university’s Master of Music - Performance (MM) program. They are Álvaro Javier Molina Bejarano (Violin 1) from Aguachica, Colombia; Daniel Humberto Pedraza Lozano (Violin 2) from Bogota, Colombia; Luis Ricardo Ramos López (Viola) from Aguascalientes, Mexico, and Victor Andrés Cediel Gómez (Violoncello) from Bucaramanga, Colombia.
Bejarano said they got the idea of playing in the DI Hub one day while they were having lunch there. George Lemons Jr., a chef for University Culinary Services, noticed their instrument cases and suggested that they come back and play the following week. "We prepared a small repertoire and we had a great time," Bejarano said. "It was really good that the audience was receptive and positive."
Sommer Dunlevy, assistant director of marketing for university housing and culinary services, shared how the event came about. She said that earlier in the week, the group approached Ed Hardin, the executive chef at the DI Hub, and asked if they could play there. Together, they worked out a time and date and moved forward.
The performance was well received by the lunchtime visitors to the DI Hub and the musicians received enthusiastic, grateful applause after each song they played.