Harlem Quartet as part of Newburgh Chamber Music

"The Harlem String Quartet returned for a second concert on Saturday afternoon at St. George's Church. The large, enthusiastic audience knew what to expect: a wide spectrum of pieces not usually heard and played with passion and skill. Violinists Ilmar Gavilan and Melissa White, violist Juan-Miguel Hernandez and cellist Desmond Neysmith bring flawless timing and fluid coordination to their performances, displaying in a variety of styles their virtuosity and joy in playing together."

James F. Cotter, Times Herald Record
February 24, 2009
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Sphinx Laureates Concert at Carnegie Hall

"The Harlem Quartet, all first-place laureates of the Sphinx Competition, gave a spirited rendition of a Paul Chihara arrangement called “Ellington Fantasy: Take the A Train.” The work, based on the music by Billy Strayhorn, had fine contributions from Ilmar Gavilan, the first violinist."

"...the program concluded with Michael Abels’s energetic arrangement for string quartet and string orchestra of his “Delights and Dances,” which incorporates jazz, blues, bluegrass and Latin dance elements. The Harlem Quartet played with panache."

Vivien Schweitzer, The New York Times
September 27, 2007
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Sphinx Gala Concert at Carnegie Hall

"The violinist Ilmar Gavilan and the violist Juan-Miguel Hernandez from the Harlem Quartet, an ensemble of Sphinx prizewinners, gave a commanding account of a Handel passacaglia, arranged by Johan Halvorsen.

They were then joined by the other members of their quartet (the violinist Melissa White and the cellist Desmond Neysmith) for an exciting account of two movements from Wynton Marsalis’s episodic and stylistically eclectic string quartet At the Octoroon Balls."

Anthony Tommasini, The New York Times
October 27, 2006