James Piano Quartet Performs Sept. 21

SUZANNE RAMSEY
College relations staff writer

The James Piano Quartet, artists-in-residence at Sweet Briar College, will perform at 7:30 p.m., Friday, Sept. 21 in Memorial Chapel. Admission is free and the public is invited.

The concert is presented in conjunction with the College’s Homecoming festivities and will include compositions by Ludwig van Beethoven, Gabriel Urbain Fauré and Arthur Honegger.

The James Quartet consists of Nick Ross on piano, Jana Ross on violin, Joe Nigro on viola and Wes Baldwin on cello.

Nick Ross, assistant professor of music at Sweet Briar and chair of the music department, has performed extensively in Europe and the United States, both as soloist and chamber musician.

His latest recording, “John Powell: the Early Piano Music,” was described as “both surprising and highly enjoyable” by critic Uncle Dave Lewis of AllMusic.com, and has been played on classical NPR stations around the country since its release in March.

Jana Ross, wife of Nick Ross, is assistant principal second violinist of the Wintergreen Festival Orchestra, concertmaster of Opera on the James and acting principal second violinist for the Roanoke Symphony Orchestra and Opera Roanoke.

She began her violin studies at the age of three in the St. Louis Conservatory and School for the Arts. She later earned a bachelor’s degree from Oberlin Conservatory

Nigro is a graduate of the Manhattan School of Music. While in New York, he appeared with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, the American Symphony and the New Jersey Symphony.

He is the founder of the James String Quartet and plays with the Roanoke Symphony. He has served on the board of directors of the Virginia School of the Arts and as faculty at the Central Virginia Suzuki Festival.

Baldwin serves as associate professor of cello at the University of Tennessee, where he received the Provost’s Award for Professional Promise in Research and Creative Activity.

He has participated in the Hot Springs Music Festival, the Tennessee Governor’s School for the Arts, the Michigan City Chamber Music Festival and the Wintergreen Summer Music Festival. He also served as principal cellist of the New World Symphony and enjoyed a five-year appointment with the Plymouth String Quartet.

For more information, contact Nick Ross at nross@sbc.edu or 381-6121.