LRSQ.ART - About

The Lakes Region String Quartet was formed in early 2015, when the principal string players of the Lakes Region Symphony were asked to prepare a piece to perform for the spring concert program. At that time our cellist was Donna Denniston, but the other players have remained the same. We chose the Lyric Quartet by William Grant Still for our premiere performance. Later that summer we also performed it at Mark O’Connor’s American Music Camp in South Portland.

Since then we have played in many concerts and special events such as weddings, company events, memorial celebrations, and services. In 2019 we had the honor of performing string quartet music by Holocaust victims and survivors at the Etz Hayim Synagogue’s Yom HaShoah Service. Although the New Hampshire Lakes Region brought us together – we literally come from all over the world. We are performing across Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont.

Kari Jukka-Pekka Vainio became our principal and quartet cellist in 2019. The Lakes Region String Quartet has an international flavor, as our members hail from Poland, France, the U.S., and Finland – which gives us the opportunity to share our cultures through music and food. We enjoy playing music in many different styles, but the classical string quartet literature holds a special place in our hearts.

Please keep us in mind when you are planning an event that would benefit from the ambiance of live music! Contact us for more information, availability, and pricing.

Margaret Bruziak Hopkins, violin

Margaret Bruziak Hopkins was born in Poland where she began violin and piano studies. She received a B.M. in Performance from University of Mass. at Lowell where she also pursued Music Education. She received extensive Suzuki training at various universities in the USA.

Margaret has performed in various countries throughout Europe, Canada and the United States. She has been active in promoting music education through participation with various organizations, and in lead positions at Maine Suzuki Association, Maine American String Teachers Association, and Maine Music Educators Association.

Margaret has recently retired from teaching violin in Saco schools and general music at Old Orchard Beach, Maine. She is a long time teacher of Suzuki violin at Portland Conservatory. She performs with the Lakes Region Symphony Orchestra where she is the concertmaster, the Maine Pro Musica, Opera Maine, Southern Maine Symphony Orchestra, the New Hampshire Music Festival, Deep Blue C Studio Orchestra, and the New Hampshire Philharmonic. Margaret also freelances in the New England area performing in numerous concerts and recitals.

Muriel Orcutt, violin

Muriel Orcutt was born in France and started piano at 5 and violin at 7. She competed in Paris from 8 years old on. She has a Second prize in violin from “ l’ecole de Musique de Paris” and a first prize in violin and chamber music from the ‘Conservatoire de Bordeaux”. She studied with Raphael Hyllier at American University where she obtained a Bachelor of Music History degree. She was a violin professor at the “Conservatoire de Pau” in France and also played in their professional chamber orchestra. When she came back to the U.S. she obtained a Master of Music Ed. from the University of New Hampshire.

Muriel started the Goffstown School District string program in 2001 and continues teaching there presently. She is Principal Second violin with the Lakes Region Symphony Orchestraand also plays with the NH Fiddle Ensemble since its creation in 2008.

Muriel has been a member of NHASTA since 1980. She also has been the NHMEA String Council Chair for the past six years.

Muriel attended Carnegie Hall Music Ed Institute summer 2017 and performed John Adams “Short Ride to a fast Machine” in Time Square with the orchestra conducted by the Baltimore Symphony Director, Marin Alsop.

Summer 2018, she taught staff and students for 10 days at a summer camp in Carrefour, Haiti.

Sally Wituszynski

Sally Wituszynski earned a Bachelor of Music degree in Viola Performance from the New England Conservatory of Music, where she studied with Heidi Castleman and Marcus Thompson. She has also completed a Master’s degree in Music Education from the University of New Hampshire.

Sally has played in many ensembles, including the Vermont Symphony, the Hanover Handel Society, the Granite State Symphony, the Boston New Music Initiative, the Portsmouth Symphony, the New Hampshire Philharmonic, and the Great Bay Philharmonic. She is the principal violist for the Lakes Region Symphony Orchestra, and a founding member of the Artful Noise String Quartet. As an active freelance performer throughout New England, Sally has appeared onstage with Dionne Warwick and David Gates, and she performed at the 2012 PARMA Contemporary Music Festival in Portsmouth, NH.

Sally has also maintained a private teaching studio in the New Hampshire Seacoast area since 1984, and is a Past President of the New Hampshire Chapter of the American String Teachers’ Association. She has spent many summers teaching in the University of New Hampshire’s Summer Youth Music School programs, and she is a frequent guest conductor at both the Maine and New Hampshire Statewide String Festivals. Sally was the string teacher and orchestra director at Berwick Academy in southern Maine for 20 years, and she was the Master Teacher for the String Project at the University of New Hampshire for four years. She currently teaches ensemble classes at the Portsmouth Music & Arts Center and directs the instrumental music program at Tri-City Christian Academy near her home in Somersworth, NH.

Kari Jukka-Pekka Vainio

Kari Jukka-Pekka Vainio (or JP) grew up in Finland and got his first job in a professional symphony orchestra when he was 16 years old. He later studied cello in Helsinki Conservatory, and Math and Computer Science in Helsinki University. In his triple life he has been computer science faculty in Helsinki University Finland, and math faculty in Los Medanos College. He has worked as a software developer in MEMS (Micro Electro Mechanical Systems) Research Center, University of California, Berkeley, as well as in private industry, all the while continuing his work as a freelance cellist . In 2017 he and his family left the San Francisco Bay Area after 20 years and moved to Plymouth, New Hampshire. He currently works for Plymouth State University and freelances with various arts organizations including the Winnipesaukee Playhouse, North Country Chorus, Deep Blue C orchestra, Plymouth State University and Moultonborough Academy. He is the principal cellist in the Lakes Region Symphony Orchestra and maintains an active chamber music schedule.