STRING BEINGS
QUARTET

Quartet music of 1799 and 1960

String Beings Quartet’s passion is to expose our audiences to sounds and styles from various genres of music. Learning classical-era string quartets of Haydn and the jazz, blues and spirituals music of Still has been enlightening and entertaining. We are excited to share this music with you and hope you enjoy its differences and similarities.

Quartet op. 77 No. 1 by Franz Joseph Haydn – Allegro moderato, Adagio, Minuet, Finale
The Lyric Quartet by William Grant Still – The Sentimental One, The Quiet One, the Jovial One

Tim Arnold, violin
Margaret Hopkins, violin
Wendy Keys, viola
Steve Witkin, cello

Tim Arnold grew up in a musical family in Harvard, MA, and began the violin at age five with his grandfather’s violin and his sister as his teacher. Selected at a young age for the Longy School Young Artist Program with Roman Totenberg, the Greater Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra, and the New England Youth Ensemble, Tim studied in his formative years with Virginia Gene Rittenhouse of Thayer Conservatory, and Leo Panasevich of the Boston Symphony. In college, Tim played with the Harvard Radcliffe Orchestra and the Bach Society, and later while in Lake Tahoe, as a sub for the Reno Philharmonic. More recently Tim is a founding member of the String Beings of Portland, and has played with the Eggrock String Quartet, the Concord Orchestra, the Carlisle Chamber Orchestra, Portsmouth Symphony, Lakes Region Symphony, University of Southern Maine Symphony, and has been concert master of the Savoyard Light Opera Company, the Harvard Messiah Sing, the Sounds of Stow, and the Sudbury Savoyards. Most summers Tim joins Kent Music, Chamber Music Conference of the East, Wyoda, Winterhaven, Kneisel Hall, and Orford chamber music festivals. In addition to playing music, Tim is the owner of Bridges and Bows Violin Shop and studied violin repair and restoration with Paul Wiessmeyer at the University of New Hampshire Violin Craftsmanship Institute. He lives in the White Mountains with his wife and two Jack Russels Mango and Roo, spending time ski racing, hiking, and playing pickleball.

Margaret Bruziak Hopkins was born in Poland, where she began her musical journey at the age of seven with violin studies, adding piano at age twelve. She was a member of the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra (formerly GBYSO), performing with the ensemble for six years. Ms. Hopkins earned a Bachelor of Music degree in Performance and Music Education from the University of Massachusetts at Lowell, followed by extensive Suzuki teacher training at institutions across the United States. Her performance career has taken her around the world, including appearances in Poland, Switzerland, Israel, England, Scotland, Wales, Canada, and throughout the United States. An active leader in music education, she served as Orchestra Vice President for the Maine Music Educators Association, past president of the Maine Suzuki Association, and past secretary of the Maine chapter of the American String Teachers Association. She taught violin in the Saco and Old Orchard Beach school systems, and she currently serves on the faculty of the Portland Conservatory of Music. In addition to her role as concertmaster of the Lakes Region Symphony Orchestra, she performs regularly with the Artful Noise String Quartet, the Lakes Region String Quartet, and various ensembles across New England. She is also a sought-after freelance musician. Beyond her musical career, Margaret has a passion for travel. She is the proud mother of two daughters, grandmother to two grandchildren, and shares her home with her cat, Lola.

Wendy Williams Keyes grew up in the Boston area and earned viola performance degrees from the New England Conservatory and UMass Lowell. She has held positions in orchestras based in Worcester (MA), New Haven (CT), Norfolk (VA), New York City, and currently in Portsmouth (NH). She has taught violin and viola for numerous music academies as well as in her private studio. She and her husband, mathematics professor David Keyes, are co-founders of a research university in Saudi Arabia (www.kaust.edu.sa), where she directed the Office of the Arts from 2009 until its hibernation during the pandemic. The Office served a global community of 125 nationalities. She and her team presented up to 60 events per year employing KAUST’s talented amateurs or visiting professionals in chamber music, orchestra, chorus, theatre, poetry and the visual arts, ranging from the Globe Theatre of London, throat singers from Mongolia, Tingatinga artists from Tanzania, and New York City jazz, in venues on campus and in various international consulates in the megalopolis of Jeddah. Ms. Keyes is a regular participant at the Chamber Music Conference of the East (www.cmceast.org) held each summer at Colgate University. Outside of music, she keeps busy with her six grandchildren, three of whom live locally, while the other three live in the “other” Portland (OR). She performs on a 2024 viola made by Benjamin Ruth.

Steve Witkin grew up in New York City, where he attended the High School of Music and Art. He is the son of composer Beatrice Witkin, and started playing the cello at age 7. His most important teachers were Kermit Moore, and George Sopkin of the Fine Arts Quartet. He attended summer chamber music workshops in Meadowbrook, NY, Mount Orford, Quebec (where he performed with an international youth orchestra at Expo 67 under Zubin Mehta), and with the Fine Arts Quartet. After graduating from Columbia College, he moved to Wisconsin where he was principal cellist of the Bach Chamber Choir and Orchestra and Sullivan Chamber Ensemble, and was a member of the Madison Symphony Orchestra. While in Wisconsin, he received a Masters Degree in Zoology, specializing in the study of Avian Vocalizations. In 1979 he decided to pursue a medical career. He moved to Maine in 1987, where he practiced Ophthalmology in Waterville for 36 years. In Maine he re-connected and resumed studies with his dear friend and mentor, George Sopkin. From 1987 to 2022 he was principal cellist with the Colby College Symphony Orchestra. At Colby he was a member of the Colby String Quartet and Colby Piano Trio. He has performed in numerous chamber music recitals throughout Maine, including the University of Maine (Farmington and Orono), and Colby, Bates, and Bowdoin Colleges. Steve was a founding member of the piano Trio Les Amis. He currently performs with the Bagaduce Chorale in Blue Hill and the Seacoast Symphony Orchestra. He is delighted in his new venture as a String Being!

Run Time: 45 minutes, no intermission.