AMBROSIA STRING QUARTET

About the Artist

The Ambrosia String Quartet (Caeli Smith and Erica Tursi, violins; Madeline Smith, viola; Sara Gabalawi, cello) is coached by Jean Louise Shook through Settlement Music School in Philadelphia. The quartet was formed in September, 2007 by four longtime friends, and has since performed at many venues, including Philadelphia’s Kimmel Center, and at Settlement Music School’s 100th Anniversary Annual Concert and their 100th Anniversary Gala, where the quartet shared the stage with Settlement alum Chubby Checker. They have performed in masterclasses for the Orion and Emerson Quartets. All four members of Ambrosia hold Advanced Study Scholarships through Settlement Music School.

Caeli Smith, 16, is a violin student of Catherine Cho at the Juilliard pre-college program. She has appeared a violin soloist with the Philadelphia Classical Symphony, the Ocean City Pops, the Philadelphia Bach Festival Orchestra, the Ambler Symphony, the Bucks County Symphony, and other orchestras. She has also been featured several times as a violin soloist on NPR’s From The Top, as well its TV series, Live From Carnegie Hall, where she recently premiered a new arrangement of a piece by Astor Piazzolla. She is also a cast member on the radio show, where she does skits and interviews with prominent musicians and pedagogues. She had a starring role as a street musician in Robert Downey, Sr.'s 2005 documentary Rittenhouse Square and a role in his upcoming feature documentary on the composer Kurt Weill.

Erica Tursi, 18, is a violin student of Hirono Oka of the Philadelphia Orchestra. Erica has won several competitions, including the Junior B High School Division in the 2005 ASTA/NJ State Solo Competition, as well as concerto competitions for the Manalapan Battleground Symphony, The Old York Symphony, and the Delaware County Symphony Orchestra. She was chosen to participate in the NJSO Music Interplay Program and has been featured as a student artist in the Serenade for Wildlife. She has also appeared as a soloist with the Philharmonic of Southern New Jersey and the Ocean City Pops Orchestra. Erica is a member of the first violin section of the Philadelphia Youth Orchestra, with whom she toured Brazil in 2007. She has attended Bowdoin International Music Festival and the Quartet Program at S.U.N.Y. Fredonia.

Madeline Smith, 18, is a viola student of Anna Marie Ahn Petersen, of the Philadelphia Orchestra. She has appeared on the NPR radio show, From The Top, and on the inaugural season of the PBS show From The Top: Live From Carnegie Hall, in which she performed Rochelle Chester’s composition “Moon’s Lullaby” in a string quartet with her sister Caeli. Madeline has been a soloist with the Ocean City Pops orchestra, and has served as principal violist of the Philadelphia All-City Orchestra, and the Creative and Performing Arts High School of Philadelphia. In 2007 she was a quarterfinalist at the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition in Indiana. She has attended Bowdoin International Music Festival, Kinhaven Music School, Strings International Music Festival, and the Kimmel Center Chamber Music Camp. In addition to viola, Madeline enjoys opera and glassblowing.

Sara Gabalawi, 17, studies with Philadelphia Orchestra cellist Derek Barnes. She is the principal cellist in the Philadelphia Sinfonia, and a winner of their concerto competition. She performed as soloist with the orchestra during their 2007 tour of the Czech Republic and Poland. In summer 2008, Sara was the concert soloist and principal cellist at the Festival de la Orquesta Sinfónica Juvenil de las Américas (FOSJA), conducted by Maestro Luis Biava. She has participated in numerous music festivals, including Strings International Music Festival, the Bowdoin International Music Festival, the Kimmel Center Chamber Music Camp, Music in the Mountains, and the Robert McDuffie Labor Day Festival for Strings. At Philadelphia Sinfonia’s 2008 Gala Concert, Sara was featured with Intercultural Journeys, a cultural music group founded by Philadelphia Orchestra cellist, Udi Bar-David. Sara and Mr. Bar-David improvised based upon themes from Arab and Israeli music.

Past Performances

November 8, 2008

Classical guitarist Emmanuel Gray (Navajo) performs music by J.S. Bach, Heitor Villa-lobos, Francisco Tarrega, and Leo Brouwer. The Philadelphia-based, all-female Ambrosia String Quartet performs works by young composers Emmanuel Gray, Paris Fairbanks (Ojibway), Wyas Parker (Chickasaw), Courtney Parchcorn (Chickasaw), Joel Waukazo (Ojibway), and Kate Duty (Chickasaw)—all students of composer Jerod Tate (Chickasaw). Presented in conjunction with Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian, with additional support from the Chickasaw Nation.

Play this Performance