Red Line String Quartet

Artists
Program
Preview
Performances
Bios

Artists

Red Line String Quartet

Patrick Forsyth, violin
Robert Kaufman, cello
Stephen Weiss, viola
Tobias Chisnall, violin

Program

String Quartet No. 3 ‘Mishima’
Philip Glass (b. 1937)

I. 1957 – Award Montage
II. November 25 – Ichigaya
III. Grandmother and Kimitake
IV. 1962 – Body Building
V. Blood Oath
VI. Mishima / Closing

String Quartet in C Minor, Op. 18 No. 4
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)

Allegro ma non tanto (C minor)
Andante scherzoso quasi allegretto (C major)
Menuetto: Allegretto (C minor)
Allegro – Prestissimo (C minor)

Preview

Performances

Musicivic Everywhere 
Sun 3:00 PM ET June 13, 2021 (Oakmont)
TBD
Free Tickets

Oakmont Musicivic 
Sun 3:00 PM ET June 13, 2021
Fri 7:30 PM ET June 18, 2021
Free Tickets

Ambler Musicivic 
TBD
Free Tickets

Three Village Chamber Players  
TBD
Free Tickets

Big Sky Musicivic
TBD
Free Tickets

Twin Forks Musicivic
TBD
Free Tickets

Bios

A native of Tulsa, Oklahoma, Patrick L. Forsyth began violin studies at the age of three, and first performed professionally with the Tulsa Symphony Orchestra at 16, becoming the youngest musician ever to occupy a position in the orchestra. While in high school, Patrick distinguished himself in multiple categories of performance, winning first prize in solo performance competitions and chamber music competitions, and serving as the concertmaster for the Tulsa Youth Symphony.

In college, Patrick studied with renowned pedagogues and world-class performers Oleh Krysa and Cyrus Forough, themselves former pupils of the legendary Russian violinist David Oistrakh. Patrick received his Bachelor’s in music performance from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York and his Master’s from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Patrick now lives in Pittsburgh, where he teaches a private studio of violin students and acts as conductor of the Pittsburgh Youth Philharmonic’s most advanced orchestra level. He actively performs with chamber groups, new music ensembles, and orchestras across the U.S, including as a founding member of the Red Line String Quartet, and recently appeared as a soloist with the Pittsburgh Civic and Young Artists Debut Orchestras. In addition to his classical music training, Patrick is also an accomplished performer and improviser in jazz, pop, and fiddle music, and frequently arranges music from various genres for special events and weddings. His arrangements have been performed internationally on 5 continents.

Robert Kaufman is a professional cellist and native of Pittsburgh, PA. Robert holds a B.M. in Cello Performance from Duquesne University and a M.M. in Cello Performance from the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University. He has studied with Anne Martindale-Williams, Adam Liu, and Alan Stepanksy. He performs with the Wheeling Symphony Orchestra, Youngstown Symphony Orchestra, and Annapolis Symphony Orchestra, and is a founding member and cellist of the Pittsburgh-based Red Line String Quartet.

Robert began his musical education at the age of 6 with the piano, and began studying the cello at age 9. As a young musician he made his first solo debut with orchestra with the Upper St. Clair Chamber Orchestra at the age of 15. Since that time, Robert has performed and soloed throughout the United States and around the world, including performances in a number of cities including San Diego, Philadelphia, Baltimore, New York City, Miami, Vienna, Salzburg, Prague, and Bratislava.

In addition to numerous performances of major works in the standard repertoire, Robert enjoys studying new music written by modern composers. He has worked with professional contemporary music ensembles like Symphony Number One, Kamratōn, and Nat 28. Robert also enjoys playing early music, a genre he has explored in his studies of the Viola da Gamba and Baroque Cello. Robert is a strong advocate of teaching and sharing music with people of all ages and backgrounds. He worked as the co-director of the Peabody String Sinfonia, a conductorlessstring orchestra whose mission is to share music with underprivileged communities in the Baltimore area. He teaches privately and has given talks and clinics to parents and students at public schools in Maryland and Pennsylvania. In his free time, Robert enjoys literature and cooking.

Stephen Weiss enjoys an extensive career as a multi-genre soloist, chamber musician, recording artist, and orchestral player having performed throughout the United States and Europe. His international presence includes a residency with the InterHarmony International Music Festival, where his playing has been noted as “downright puristic [and] with a warm, viola sound.” (“Onetz”, Sulzbach-Rosenberg, Germany). Stephen’s career has involved collaborations with renowned musicians from the Dallas, Charleston, and Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestras, the New York Metropolitan Opera, the Houston Grand Opera, and international artists such as The Who, Josh Groban, Sarah Brightman, Evanescence, Michael W. Smith, Sean Jones, Mark Wood, and the Tran Siberian Orchestra. He is also a founding member of the Red Line String Quartet, which gained national recognition from their 2019 sold out performance at the DiMenna Centerfor Classical Music in New York City. 

Stephen was appointed Principal Viola of the Johnstown Symphony Orchestra in August 2019 and is also currently a violist with the Wheeling Symphony Orchestra. He can also be seen with the American Pops Orchestra, Pittsburgh Opera Orchestra, Pittsburgh CLO, Pittsburgh Festival Orchestra, Resonance Works Pittsburgh, and Opera Project Columbus. 

Stephen is also heavily invested in music education. As a devoted, sought-after teacher, he is currently the Auxiliary Viola Teacher at Carnegie Mellon University. He additionally maintains his own professional viola and violin studio, and he has conducted masterclasses at high schools and collegiate institutions across the United States. 

Stephen received a four-year fellowship to attend Carnegie Mellon University, where he received three degrees, which include his Master of Music and two post-master certificates in music performance. He was a student of David Harding and Tatjana Chamis Mead. He is also a graduate of the Mary Pappert School of Music at Duquesne University where he studied with Maryléne Gingras-Roy. His previous primary teachers include Dr. Timothy Deighton and Paul Silver. He has performed in masterclasses led by Roberto Diaz, Masumi Rostad, Joel Smirnoff, Michael Klotz, Michael Strauss, and Andrea Houde. 

Stephen performs on a 1966 Turtis-model viola by Dudley Reed, which was originally custom-made for the late Pittsburgh Symphony violist Jose Rodriguez.

Tobias Chisnall began studying the violin at the age of 5 in Canberra, Australia, under the guidance of leading Canberra violin pedagogues Yeung Ng and Vincent Edwards, the latter of the Juilliard School of Music and one of Australia’s leading violinists and educators. At the conclusion of his undergraduate studies with Tor Fromyhr at the Australian National University’s School of Music he was awarded first- class honors and the Friends’ Bernhard Neumann Memorial Prize, awarded to ‘an outstanding Honours [sic] year Music student who made a significant contribution to the School of Music and to the community.’ Tobias completed postgraduate degrees at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music with Ole Bohn, and at Duquesne University’s Mary Pappert School of Music in Pittsburgh, PA, with Charles Stegeman.

Tobias is a member of the Pittsburgh Opera Orchestra and the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre Orchestra. He is Associate Concertmaster of the Johnstown Symphony Orchestra and a violinist in the West Virginia Symphony, the Erie Philharmonic, and the Youngstown Symphony. During the summer he frequently performs at the Sunflower Music Festival, KS, the Buzzards Bay Music Festival, MA, and the Berkshire Opera Festival, MA. He joined the Red Line String Quartet in 2019.

MC21-0020