On Saturday, Oct. 26 at 3 pm, the West Tisbury library will present a concert with cellists Andrés Vera of Quartet San Francisco and soloist and educator Matthew Linaman. According to a press release, this concert will feature duets by Jean-Baptiste Barriȅre, Friedrich Kummer, David Popper, Pablo Casals, and Jordan Adam Young. This event is presented by the Martha’s Vineyard Chamber Music Society, and is free and open to the public.
Andrés Vera is a soloist, chamber, and orchestral musician, who has performed in countless venues throughout the U.S., Europe, Caribbean, and Asia. He performs on the classical cello and the baroque cello. Vera is a founding member of San Francisco’s acclaimed Cello Street Quartet, which began in 2012. He is also a member of the Grammy-nominated Quartet San Francisco, joining in the summer of 2015.
A native of Puerto Rico, Vera brings a rich mix of cultural influences to his playing. He grew up with an affinity for music, and is fluent in English and Spanish. Vera began his formal training in cello performance at age 8. At 17, he was invited to join the Miami Symphony Orchestra, and performed with them regularly from 2006 to 2012.
Matthew Linaman has performed both as a solo cellist and as part of Cello Street Quartet, an ensemble he co-founded, in some of the world’s most prestigious concert halls across the U.S. and Europe. Now focused on empowering young students through music, Matthew specializes in teaching foundations of technique and musical expression while cultivating curiosity and the drive to make an impact in the world.
While a student of Jean-Michel Fonteneau at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Linaman was the winner of the SFCM Concerto Competition, the Oakland Symphony Young Artist Competition, and the Reno Chamber Orchestra Concerto Competition. In his third year, Matthew co-founded the Cello Street Quartet. Over their five years together, they gave over 300 public performances, including extensive musical and educational outreach. In 2014, the Cello Street Quartet was honored to serve as musical ambassadors to Hungary, Kosovo, and Russia through the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.
Linaman is currently a pre-college faculty member at SFCM, coaching chamber music and teaching privately in his own studio.
