About FAQ
Posted by FAQ
Folk Arts Quartet (FAQ) fuses the worlds of folk and chamber music in a wild amalgam they call ChamberGrass. With firm roots in Celtic and American fiddle styles, FAQ enlivens traditional tunes and new compositions through innovative arrangements, recordings, and performances.
“It’s not uncommon for a modern string quartet to play some crossover material,” remarks cellist Liz Davis Maxfield, “but what we’re doing is different. We aren’t a classical quartet playing ‘an arrangement of a folk tunes.’ We are fundamentally folk musicians, who know the traditions and styles, but we also happen to have extensive technical training and chamber music experience.”
The founding members of Folk Arts Quartet met in 2008 while studying at Berklee College of Music (Boston, MA), piloting their groovy, contemporary arrangements in Boston’s fertile folk music scene. At Berklee, FAQ had the honor of being mentored by some of today’s best contemporary string players, including Eugene Friesen, Mads Tolling, and John McGann. FAQ’s sound quickly grew in popularity as the quartet performed for audiences at venues such as Club Passim and WGBH’s St. Patrick’s Day Celtic Sojourn.
“Evidently passionate and extremely tight, it was an absolute delight to see them perform,” wrote Anja McCloskey, writer for Wears the Trousers Magazine.
Scots Trad Music Award winner and FAQ mentor, Natalie Haas, said “The Folk Arts Quartet is comprised of four incredibly talented young [musicians], each bringing her own unique style of fiddling to this group, which is the first of its kind in the Celtic genre. They are taking the string world by storm with their zesty arrangements of both traditional and original tunes, blending the raw, folksy sounds of a string band with the sophistication and grace of a classical string quartet.”
In March 2009, FAQ released its debut, self-titled album prior to spending the summer touring throughout the U.S. and Canada. In response to FAQ’s performance on the main stage of Falcon Ridge Folk Festival, the Festival’s musical director touted FAQ as one of her “favorite bands to watch this year.” (Cover Lay Down, 8/09)
In late 2009 FAQ “hibernated” while Liz accepted a Fulbright grant to pursue a year-long study and research program at the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance (University of Limerick, Ireland). Meanwhile, others of the founding members also pursued other musical projects.
In summer 2010, FAQ returns to the scene with a new lineup—welcoming Jenna Moynihan and Lea Kirstein—and tours in New England, New York, Philadelphia, Saskatchewan, and British Columbia.
Liz Davis Maxfield (cello)
Pearl Award-winning composer and Fulbright scholar in traditional Irish music performance, Liz Davis Maxfield is an eclectic cellist with extensive experience as a performer, recording artist, and teacher. As a solo artist and bandleader (for FAQ, New Time Ensemble, and FiddleSticks), she has performed in festivals and concert halls from Europe to Japan and from the Baltic States to Canada. Liz has taught workshops and courses on improvisation and adapting folk styles to the cello at Brigham Young University (Provo, UT), the New Directions Cello Association Festival (Sacramento, CA / Ithaca, NY), and the Somerville String Camp (Somerville, MA). Liz graduated summa cum laude from Berklee College of Music. Soon afterward, she was awarded a Fulbright grant to study at the University of Limerick (Ireland) and publish a forthcoming method book on Irish Traditional Music for Cello. She lives in Madison, Wisconsin with her husband, Andrew Maxfield, and she plays a 2007 J.P. Lucas cello named Maggie.
Ivonne Hernandez (fiddle)
Reigning five-time Grand North American Fiddle Champion, Ivonne Hernandez has performed with or opened for Alan Jackson, Gloria Estefan, Jann Arden, Oscar Lopez, Natalie MacMaster, Earth Wind and Fire, Steve Winwood, Burt Bacharach, Juan Louis Guerra, Rosa Pasos, Ben Hepner and film composer Howard Shore. Ivonne has been featured on television and radio, at folk music and fiddle festivals around the world, and played for the Governor General of Canada. Her debut recording, Playing With Fire, garnered critical raves, and in 2006 Ivonne released In Time (Warner Music Canada). With her band featuring bassist Leigh Grisewood and guitarist Dan Weisenburger, Hernandez tours extensively, performing at more than 60 schools throughout British Columbia. She has toured and taught all over North America, the Caribbean and Europe and plans to tour South America next year.
Jenna Moynihan (fiddle)
Jenna Moynihan began playing the violin at the age of six, studying the Suzuki method. It was not long after that she was introduced to Scottish and Irish fiddle styles, and since that time, she has never looked back. At the age of 19, she is quickly making a name for herself in the Celtic fiddling traditions. Hailing from a small town in Western New York State, she has earned champion titles in Scottish Fiddle Competitions, studied with distinguished musicians such as Alasdair Fraser, Darol Anger, Hanneke Cassel, and many more. Jenna has been a leading member of the fiddle group, Bonnie Loch, and contributed many original compositions to their 2008 album, Darach. She has performed across both the United States and Scotland, and is currently based in Boston, pursuing a performance degree from the Berklee College of Music.
Lea Kirstein (viola)
Lea Kirstein is a creative and resourceful string player from Victoria, BC, currently in her third year of the Music Education program at the University of Victoria. As a classical violist, she has played in the National Youth Orchestra in Ottawa, with Janos Sandor’s orchestra, and Lafayette String Quartet’s chamber music program at UVic. In the folk music world, she leads the Victoria portion of National Youth Fiddle Project “The Twisted String,” an innovative pedagogical and performance brainchild of fiddler and composer Oliver Schroer. With the Twisted String, she has performed on National CBC Radio Broadcasts, in folk festivals, clubs, and stages in Toronto and Vancouver, and led educational workshops in Arts Schools in Toronto. She has even been spotted instigating a “Random Act of Violins” or two in the Toronto subways! Lea has collaborated on a CD with Juno award-winning fiddler Oliver Schroer, on CDs and music videos with several independent rock bands, and has even dabbled in jazz and electric cello with the Hypatia Creative Women’s Jazz Orchestra, under Lorae Farrell.
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Folk Arts Quartet (FAQ) fuses the worlds of folk and chamber music in a wild amalgam they call ChamberGrass. With firm roots in Celtic and American fiddle styles, FAQ enlivens traditional tunes and new compositions through innovative arrangements, recordings, and performances.