Repertoire and Performers

The repertoire for this event will include selections from Borociin, Imogen Holst, Philip Glass, Haydn, and Arvo Pârt.

RED RIDING HOOD STRING QUARTET

Edith Yokley | violin
Songhea Sackrider | violin
Nora Williams | viola
Erica Lessie | cello

Edith Yokley is a violinist and member of the Chicago Sinfonietta and Soulful Symphony in Baltimore. She has performed with CeeLo Green, J.Lo, Common, Barry White, Mos Def, Nancy Wilson, Andrea Bocelli, Sheila E., Smokey Robinson, Aretha Franklin, Donnie McClurkin, Richard Smallwood, Shirley Caesar, Dennis DeYoung of Styx, and Diana Ross and the Supremes. She’s appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show, The Today Show, and Late Night With Conan O'Brien as well as The Voice. As a chamber musician, she has performed all over the world. As a member of the Red Riding Hood Strings, she has performed for the American Ballet Theater, and for the Musician’s Club of Women Concert Series. Visit djviolin.com to learn more!

Songhea Sackrider began studying the violin and piano, Suzuki Method at age 5. She continued studying music through college and graduate school earning first a Bachelor of Music (B.M. violin performance) from the University of Michigan with Andrew Jennings and a Master of Music (M.M. violin performance) from Northwestern University with Almita Vamos, where she attended on a full fellowship. She has given numerous performances throughout North America and Europe and is the recipient of awards from the Kapnick Foundation and JSR Foundation. Ms. Sackrider maintains an active performing and teaching career in Chicago.

Nora Williams is the Artistic Director at Ossia Musical Forum, principal viola with the Highland Park Strings, founder and violist with the contemporary string quartet, Red Riding Hood, guest soloist with the South Loop Symphony, and past principal viola and soloist with the Bach and Beyond Chamber Orchestra. Nora has been on the board of the Musicians Club of Women, and the Steering Committee of the Fine Arts Building Studios collective. She is a native of the San Francisco Bay area and received a bachelor’s degree in music from Stanford University. Nora delights in connecting her audience to old and new gems from the chamber repertoire. During the pandemic Nora has presented concerts in eclectic fresh-air venues for small audiences starved for live music. Visit ossiamf.com to learn more!

Erica Lessie is a freelance cellist and composer in the Chicago area, working in a broad range of styles, performing with Whitney Houston, Seal, Diana Krall, Andrea Bocelli, Peter Cetera, the Four Tops and Johnny Mathis. She is a member of Tributosaurus and Cherchez la Femme, and developed Cellos of Unusual Shape. She teaches at DePaul University Community Music Division, Sherwood Community Music School at Columbia College and Chicago High School for the Arts. Ms. Lessie received a B.M. from Indiana University, where she studied cello with Fritz Magg and chamber music with Rostislav Dubinsky and James Buswell. At Florida State University she earned an M.M. and completed coursework for a Doctor of Musical Arts degree.