Amelia DeSalvio
GLEN RIDGE, NJ — The Amelia String Quartet will be performing in a concert at the Presbyterian Church in Westfield this Saturday. The group will play the music of two contemporary composers, Michael DeMaio and Victoria Romano.
The name of the group comes from one of its founding members, Glen Ridge resident Amelia DeSalvio, a 2004 graduate of Glen Ridge H.S.
“We had trouble finding a name,” DeSalvio said earlier this week. “We thought is was a nice name and decided to use it.”
DeSalvio had originated the group to play at the Assisi Performing Arts Festival, in Italy. She had played there in 2005.
“I decided I wanted to do a festival in Italy,” she said.
She was 19 at the time and was auditioned for the festival by its director, Gregory Scime, who is currently the music director of St. Joseph’s, in Maplewood.
“I didn’t make it back to Assisi until 2012, because of school and obligations,” she said.
She appeared again in 2014. Scime then asked her to form a string quartet and bring it to Italy.
Agreeing with the idea, she first enlisted her friend Cassandra Lambros.
“She’s a violinist and vocalist,” DeSalvio said. “I convinced her to join me.”
She wrote to the music school at Rutgers, looking for more musicians. Timothy Leonard responded.
“Tim, our cellist, we didn’t know him,” she said.
Another member came by way of Amelia’s mother, who had a friend, a recent graduate of the Eastman Music Conservatory. This was William Ford-Smith, a violist.
“He decided to join us,” she said. “We prepared for two concerts at the Assisi festival. Those would be just for us. And there would be concerts with other musicians.”
DeSalvio said the group did not know each other, except for herself and Lambros. But they played well together.
After coming back from Italy, DeSalvio said she was with Scime at the Nevada Diner, in Bloomfield. This was last fall, and they were talking about music.
“I was meeting with Gregory,” she recalled. “A man came over to us and said he had overheard us and was a composer. He was looking for musicians to play for him.”
The man was Michael DeMaio, whose works the Amelia String Quartet will be playing.
They played “Upon Awakening,” which is on the program for this Saturday.
“It’s exciting and jazzy,” DeSalvio said.
The first movement of the composition is included in a movie produced by her mother, Teresa DeSalvio. The movie, which will be shown at the Glen Ridge Women’s Club, in May, is called, “Tales: a cautionary story of heroin addiction.”
The quartet will also play several other compositions by DeMaio. They will also play a short piece by Romano, “Nature, the gentlest mother.” This uses the poetry of Emily Dickinson.
DeSalvio also performs for the Plainfield Symphony Orchestra and the Adelphi Orchestra, which will play at Merkin Hall, New York, on June 9.
The upcoming concert on Saturday, April 30, in Westfield, will be 3 p.m. The address of the Presbyterian Church is 140 Mountain Ave. The event is free.
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