DEMING STRING QUARTET

One of the most versatile groups in Connecticut, the Deming String Quartet performs everything from Bach to Bluegrass, from Gregorian Chant to Gershwin and from Joplin Rags to Jazz and modern film soundtracks with a high standard rarely matched. With many years of experience playing in the best orchestras and chamber ensembles across Connecticut, the four musicians of the DSQ bring a depth of understanding and skill that serves well the music at hand. One highlight was performing “Kashmir” by Led Zeppelin on the 50,000-watt “Home of Rock & Roll”, WRKI, i95 in Brookfield, CT. The Deming String Quartet has been active throughout the tri-state area of CT, NY and Massachusetts since the mid-1990’s.

Howard Tuvelle writes in the News-Times, “Deming’s pioneering programs are to be admired. With fine musicians, his casual and communicative manner, people in the audience must have felt closer to the music and performers.” Tuvelle continues, “…a Deming program is more like a “happening”! He serves as narrator, arranger, and presenter of the not so often heard instruments and styles of music. His programs are eclectic, ranging as in this one from the first century to the present…His programs are intended both to entertain and educate…Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue,” – yes, without the piano, but it was effective. Hoagy Carmichael’s “Stardust” probably makes a better piece for a string quartet than it did a song! Deming’s arrangement was superb.”

Hafez Taghavi
Originally from the greater Washington, D.C. area, Hafez Taghavi started a widespread performing career before entering college, which included concerts at the Kennedy Center, Strathmore Hall, Constitution Hall, as well as a three city tour in Bolivia.

He attended Western CT State University and earned a Bachelor of Music degree in violin performance. While studying under Eric Lewis at WCSU, maintained the concertmaster position of both the Symphony Orchestra and Opera Ensemble for four years.

Hafez then completed his Master of Music degree at Purchase College, studying with Calvin Wiersma and receiving extensive chamber music coaching from the Manhattan String Quartet. He has played at workshops and conferences in NYC and Colgate U., as well as internationally in Vienna, Budapest, Salzburg, Leipzig, Bonn, and Bologna.

Hafez has performed with the Ives Festival Symphony Orchestra as Principal 2nd and Associate Concertmaster. As a soloist, Hafez has performed concerti with orchestras in CT, with the News-Times describing him as a “…promising, talented soloist.” He has also been featured in recitals throughout the U.S., Europe and South America. In addition to classical music, Hafez actively plays in a wide variety of other genres, including rock, country, Moroccan folk, and soundtrack music.

Hafez is currently an adjunct professor of violin and chamber music at WCSU and is the Director of Orchestra and Chamber Music at Canterbury School. He serves as an artist faculty member at the Interharmony Int’l. Music Festival in Italy and maintains his own private studio in Danbury, CT. Hafez is a board member for both the Families United in Newtown and the Western CT Youth Orchestra.

Larry Demming
Violinist Larry Deming hails from Danbury, CT. He is Concertmaster of the Danbury Symphony Orchestra, Principal Second Violinist of the New Britain Symphony Orchestra, and leader of the Deming String Quartet. He served as Acting Director of the Danbury Center Strings coming out of the Covid-19 pandemic and, since 2002, is Director of the Summer Strings program at the Danbury Music Centre. He has served as Instructor in Violin and Viola at Kent School in Kent, CT since 2014.

Mr. Deming enjoys playing in all kinds of ensembles, including orchestras such as the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra (1984 to 1991) and the Springfield (MA) Symphony Orchestra. He has played violin and viola world-wide with such diverse musicians as John Denver, the Electric Light Orchestra II, Jessye Norman, Luciano Pavarotti, Rachel Barton Pine, Smokey Robinson, Kenny Rogers, Isaac Stern, James Taylor, Earl Wild and Paul Winter. As a composer, arranger, and performer, he has put out two CDs – Mythos (1998) and Journey to the East (2005). Deming’s musical training includes a Bachelor’s degree from the Indiana University School of Music, where he studied violin with Henryk Kowalski and composition with John Eaton.

Yaroslav Kargin
As a soloist, chamber musician and orchestral player, USSR-born Yaroslav Kargin has performed, and recorded in Moscow, St. Petersburg, throughout Russia, and the former Soviet Union, in Japan, China, South Korea, France, Great Britain, Ireland, Belgium, Holland, Spain, Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, the former Yugoslavia, Hungary, the U.S., Brazil and Argentina. Kargin has performed with conductors, and soloists including: Kurt Masur, Valery Gergiev, Mstislav Rostropovich, Isaac Stern, Montserrat Caballe, and Eugeny Kissin.

Kargin received his musical education at Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory, and Yale University School of Music.He is a member of the New Haven Symphony and has performed with Young Soloists of New York Chamber Orchestra, Philadelphia Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra, Orchestra New England, Canterbury Choral Society in New York City, the Greenwich Choral Society, Hartford Symphony, Yale Glee Club, Yale Schola Cantorum, and Yale Camerata.

Mr. Kargin is a viola instructor at Sacred Heart University and on the International Advisory Board of the Connecticut International Young Artist Competition, and was previously a juror for the competition in 2006, and 2007.

Mary Costanza was born and raised in Fairport, NY. At the age of 17 Mary won the prestigious Albright Award sponsored by the Rochester Philharmonic and The Eastman Theatre in Rochester, NY. She attended the Cleveland Institute of Music where she received her BM degree under the tutelage of Stephen Geber. Mary went on to study with Zara Nelsova at The Juilliard School.

Ms. Costanza is the recipient of numerous fellowships, including both The Music Academy of the West Summer Festival and The Aspen Music Festival in Aspen, Colorado to continue her studies with Zara Nelsova. Mary holds a MM degree from The Juilliard School.

Mary ccurrently lives in Connecticut with her husband Wayne Hileman of 21 years and their daughter Katherine. Ms. Costanza has performed numerous solo recitals as well as with numerous orchestras and ensembles in the Connecticut area. She is currently Assistant Principal Cellist of The Greenwich Symphony under the direction of David Gilbert. She enjoys performing in the summer at The Windham Chamber Music Festival in Windham, NY under the direction of Robert Manno.

Costanza has recently released four CD's with composer Sharon Ruchman who writes original chamber music. Her recording of the complete Cello Suites of J.S. Bach (MSR Classics) has received critical acclaim, including Music Web International’s designation as a Recording of the Month.