FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The Little Rock Bow Shop and Southside Main Street Project Present a Warehouse Soiree, Featuring the SoMa Quartet
July 24, 2009 at 7 pm will mark the second performance of the SoMa Quartet. The event will be held at the Warehouse Lofts, 1509 Louisiana St. Unit C, Little Rock, and is hosted by the Little Rock Bow Shop and Southside Main Street Project. Tickets available at the door are $30 for adults and $10 for students.

Little Rock, Arkansas Õ?? July 24, 2009 - The Little Rock Bow Shop and Southside Main Street Project present a Warehouse Soirà ©e, featuring the SoMa Quartet, a newly formed group comprised of four of central Arkansas's most talented string players.

The concert will be held in the back unit of the Warehouse Lofts. Originally home to the Abeles Auto Garage, the building has been transformed by local architect and owner, George Wittenberg, into ultra modern loft style apartments. The space features an intimate 900 square foot performance area with a balcony overlooking the stage. The building's 17 foot wood ceiling, concrete floor, and brick walls provide for a clear and lively chamber music acoustic.

The performance will feature an eclectic mix of music programmed to keep the audience engaged and entertained. The first half of the concert will feature Darius Milhaud's String Quartet No. 1, a charming work which finds the young composer exploring the impressionistic sounds of his fellow countrymen, Debussy and Ravel.

The second half of the program will open with a set of South American works, including Astor Piazzolla's Fuga y Mysterioso. This will be followed by Grant Wood: Twisted Americana for String Quartet, a wonderful and exciting work by former Turtle Island String Quartet violinist, Darol Anger. The concert will close with a set of popular rock songs arranged for string quartet, including Queens's Bohemian Rhapsody.

The pieces on the program are selected so that they can be enjoyed by both seasoned chamber music fans, as well as people who have never attended a chamber music concert. The audience is encouraged to walk around and view original art during the performance, as well as interact with the musicians between sets.

Wine and cheese will be served.

Doors open at 7:00 and music begins at 7:30.

Tickets available at the door, and are $30/$10 for students.

Contact Info: Joe Joyner
Phone: 501-944-0145
Email: joejoyner@hotmail.com
Group Photos are available by request.
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About The Little Rock Bow Shop, the Southside Main Street Project, and the SoMa Quartet

The Little Rock Bow Shop:
Serving central Arkansas's string players for two years now, the Little Rock Bow Shop specializes in expert bow and instrument repairs, as well as sales of fine instruments and bows. Owned and operated by SoMa Quartet violist, Joe Joyner, the shop has recently found a new home in the Warehouse Lofts.

The Southside Main Street Project:
The mission of Southside Main Street (SoMa) is to promote and enhance the economic development, public relations, historic integrity and quality of life for the citizens of the neighborhood. The project is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization dedicated to developing a positive image of the area between I-630 and Roosevelt Road.

As an affiliated program of Main Street Arkansas, the Project is committed to bringing vitality and business to the area. The Project plans to accomplish this by using the very successful "Main Street" model which uses historic preservation and rehabilitation as the core for identifying and developing the south Main Street area.

The principles focus on incremental, comprehensive change that emphasizes quality and the the cooperation of public and private sectors

The SoMa Quartet:
The newly formed SoMa Quartet is excited to give their second performance at the Õ??Warehouse Soiree.Õ?? The group is comprised of violinists Mike Burkepile and Charlotte Crosmer, violist Joe Joyner, and cellist Casey Buck. Member biographies are printed below.

Casey Buck:
Casey Buck, cellist, is both an avid performer and music educator. He studied cello with Allen Nisbet at Loyola University New Orleans, earning both his Bachelor of Music Education and Master of Music Performance degrees.

Mr. Buck performs primarily with the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra in Little Rock, where he is entering his third season as a section cellist. He has also had the opportunity to play in masterclasses for world-renowned cellists Lynn Harrell and Maria Kliegel, and has given solo and chamber music recitals both in Louisiana and in Arkansas.

As a music educator, he teaches orchestra with Conway Public Schools, with string students in grades six through twelve, and maintains a private cello studio both in Conway and Russellville. He also serves on the faculty of Arkansas Tech University, where he is the instructor of the string methods class and applied string lessons. Additionally, the 2008-2009 season was his first year as the director of the Preparatory Orchestra, an educational outreach of the Arkansas Symphony serving first- and second-year string players from all over central Arkansas.

Mr. Buck resides in Conway with his wife, Kristina Rose Buck (a classically-trained mezzo-soprano) and their dog, a West Highland White Terrier named Brady.

Mike Burkepile:
Mike Burkepile is a graduate of Baylor University with a Bachelor of Music degree. He is a member of the Arkansas, Conway, and Pine Bluff Symphonies. Accomplishments include concertmaster of University of Arkansas Symphony, Baylor University, and University of Central Arkansas Symphony, and The University of Northern Colorado, principle first violin of the North Arkansas, and Pine Bluff Symphonies, and principle second violin at the University of Northern Colorado. He has also played with several other professional orchestras Such as the Waco, Temple, San Angelo orchestras. He was also runner up in the UCA concerto competition in 2008 and University of Arkansas concerto competition in 2003. Mike has taught strings as a private teacher for thirteen years and as the Director or Orchestras and Music at Texas Christian Academy from 2004 through 2008.

In addition to orchestral teaching and playing, Mike is the Worship Leader at Crossroads Community Church in Conway and was the Assistant Worship Leader of Fellowship Bible Church in Waco, TX. Mike is married to Susan Burkepile and has three kids; Abby, Eli, and Isaiah Burkepile.

Charlotte Crosmer:
Charlotte Crosmer is a junior violin performance major at the University of Central Arkansas. She began taking violin lessons when she was four, and discovered her passion for music growing up playing in a string quartet with her brothers and sister. Since then, she has become a greatly respected musician in the community. She has been a violinist in the Conway Symphony Orchestra since 2001, and this year she has acted as the assistant Concertmaster, as well as being the winner of the University Concerto Competition. A soloist with the Hot Springs Music Festival Orchestra in 2007, she has won awards in several strings competitions in the state, including the Stella Boyle Smith Young Artist Competition.

As a "fiddler", she has been a featured performer all over the state, as well as the winner of numerous bluegrass and old-time fiddling contests. In 2003 she won the overall title of Arkansas State Fiddle Champion when she was just twelve years old, and subsequently was invited perform live on Garrison KeillorÕ??s A Prairie Home Companion on NPR.

Charlotte has been teaching private violin lessons for the past few years, as well as being one of the principal instructors at the Arkansas Fiddle and Strings Camp. In addition to violin, she is also pursuing a degree in voice and studies vocal performance with Dr. Martha Antolik. Other musical studies have included the flute, piano, and recently the viola.

Joe Joyner:
Joe Joyner, a Little Rock native, began playing viola professionally with the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra in 1998. After two seasons, he left the orchestra to attend the University of Houston, where he studied with Lawrence Wheeler and participated in master classes with Rita Porfiris, Karen Ritscher, Karen Tuttle, and Emmanuel Vardi.

After graduating suma cum laude in 2004, Joe performed in the Houston area as a member of Orchestra X, the Texas Music Festival Orchestra, and the Victoria Symphony.
After returning to Little Rock in 2007, Joe rejoined the Arkansas Symphony and has been with the orchestra for the past two seasons. He also performs regularly with the Conway Symphony Orchestra, and is an active member of the local chamber music community.
In addition to classical music, Joe has a keen interest in playing rock viola. While in Houston, he performed regularly with the experimental folk rock band ListenListen, with which he recorded a self titled EP and a full length album, Hymns for Rhodesia. Wanting to share his passion for playing rock music with younger string players, Joe is now the assistant director of the Mills University Studies High School Rock Orchestra.
501-944-0145