The Harlem Walking Tour video series is a set of very short videos that highlight historic artistic figures who either lived in or spent time in Harlem and how each person contributed to the vibrancy and rich cultural landscape that make Harlem what it is today. This also features some of Harlem's renowned institutions, such as the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture and the Harlem School of the Arts, among others. This series was conceived by husband and wife team, Terrance McKnight of WQXR and harpist-scholar Dr. Ashley Jackson.
The fifth episode of the Harlem Walking Tour Video Series features the Negro String Quartet, a trailblazing group of Black musicians that performed in the early 20th century, mainly in churches, community organizations and college venues in New York City.
The quartet was founded by violinist Felix Weir who toured widely in the early 20th century in duet with cellist Leonard Jeter. The pair expanded with the addition of Jeter's sister Olyve at piano. In 1914 Weir and Jeter expanded once again and formed the American String Quartet by dropping pianist Olyve and adding violinists Joseph Lymos and Hall Johnson. Weir made additional changes in 1920. He renamed the group the Negro String Quartet and replaced Jeter with cellist Marion Cumbo, Lymos with first violinist Arthur Boyd and Johnson became the quartet's viola player.
Members of The Harlem Chamber Players — violinists Ashley Horne and Claire Chan, violist Tia Allen, and cellist Wayne Smith — pay tribute to the Negro String Quartet in a performance of the slow movement from Dvořák’s String Quartet No. 12 in F major, Op. 96 “American”.
Thursday, April 29, 2021 at 12 PM
Watch on YouTube here or on our Facebook page.
The Harlem Chamber Players is an ethnically diverse collective of professional musicians dedicated to bringing high-caliber, affordable and accessible live classical music to people in the Harlem community and beyond. In addition, The Harlem Chamber Players seek to build an audience for classical music in general through community and educational outreach, as well as through collaborations with Harlem's other arts organizations, schools and cultural institutions. The Harlem Chamber Players not only bring live chamber music to underserved neighborhoods in the Harlem community, but also create opportunities for classically trained minority musicians.