String Queens, a black female trio based in Washington, D.C., formed in 2017 and quickly began performing to audiences across the United States. Violinist Kendall Isadore, violist Dawn Johnson, and cellist Elise Sharp performed at the 2021 Biden-Harris Presidential Inauguration Celebration and arranged and recorded the theme music for ESPN’s Wimbledon broadcast that year. . They performed at Carnegie Hall in New York City four times and headlined jazz festivals in the nation’s capital. Last year, they opened for jazz singer Diana Krall at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles.
The String Queens’ next stop will be the Lebanon Opera House in New Hampshire, just over the Vermont border, where they will perform on Thursday, April 4th. The venue seats 745, which is slightly smaller than the Bowl’s 17,500 seats. But the String Queens plan to light up the newly renovated 100-year-old Opera House with their signature blend of classical, jazz, pop, R&B and soul.
The trio often presents programs from the stage, and their repertoire ranges from their own modern take on Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s “Eine Kleine Nachtmusik” to Chick Corea’s “Spain” and the Beatles’ It ranges from “Eleanor Rigby.” The String Queens’ song “Crazy/Rolling” is a combination of Gnarls Barkley’s “Crazy” and Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep.”
“We’re trying to push the boundaries,” Isadore said by phone.
Education brought String Queens to New Hampshire. As part of their stay at the Opera House, which culminates in a free evening concert, they are collaborating via Zoom with advanced string students from the Tour Group, a youth program at the Upper Valley Music Center in Lebanon . At the concert, students will join a trio on stage to perform Ludwig van Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy,” Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean” and Johann Pachelbel’s “Canon.”
During the visit, String Queens will also conduct a workshop titled “Hip-Hop Genres” with 10 music center faculty members.
Isadore, Johnson, and Sharp are passionate music educators from Houston, Miami, and Washington, DC, respectively. All three began playing instruments as children, and all have worked as school orchestra directors. Mr. Isadore currently teaches admissions at a private high school in Maryland, and Mr. Johnson is an instructional coach for elementary school art teachers at the same Washington, D.C., charter school where Mr. Sharp is the middle school orchestra director. .
Isadore said the women crossed paths separately many times before joining forces. Mr. Johnson, who studied at the Juilliard School in New York City, first met Mr. Sharp in 2003. At the time, both were principals of their respective sections at the Soulful Symphony in Baltimore. Sharp and Isadore both attended Howard University in Washington, D.C., and then met around 2013 through a wedding gig and the D.C. Jazz Fest.
”[Sharp] “Johnson was one of the few multi-genre musicians I know and one of the funkiest cellists I’ve ever heard,” Isadore recalled. When they booked a wedding gig and needed a viola player, they called Johnson.
At that first performance, Isadore said, “I played the same reps that everyone else plays, but it sounded different. It sounded soulful.” They decided to officially form the trio and met in Sharpe’s classroom to decide on a name. One of the reasons I chose “String Queens” was because of their habit of referring to their students as royalty.
Since then, the group has released three albums. Latest, risewas funded in part by a grant from Detroit’s Sphinx organization, which helps support Black and Latino musicians.
Despite appearing on important stages across the country, Isadore said the trio doesn’t take the opportunity for granted. “Every time, it was Okay, I can do this.. we haven’t forgotten. [once] They are not welcome on a stage like this,” she said. was She added that they “entertained themselves and then had to go somewhere else to go to the bathroom.”
String Queens fight racism through music. The patriotic medley they wrote, “Till Victory Is Won,” is a combination of “America the Beautiful,” widely known as the black national anthem, “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” and “The Battle Hymn of the Republic.” ” is a combination of His first two songs are usually heard on separate occasions, such as Independence Day or Juneteenth. The last song became popular during the Civil War when Union soldiers added lyrics praising abolitionist John Brown.
Isadore said the medley “represents the country we want: one that is united, full of justice, full of freedom and where we all belong.”
