The Summer Quartet

Haley is first violinist and leader of "The Summer Quartet".  She started playing violin at age three.  She graduated from Penn High School in 2001, where she spent four years in the Advanced Orchestra.  She was concert master of the Penn High School Advanced orchestra for two years, and assistant concert master for one year.  She has a Bachelor's Degreee in Music Education from Indiana University of South Bend.  Here, she played in the IUSB Philharmonic and received the Indiana University Arts Excellence award in 2006.  Haley currently teaches 7th and 8th grade general music at John Young Middle School in Mishawaka.  She is the founder of the Marian High School Orchestra and former director of the St. Matthew Strings.  Haley is currently working on her Master's Degree at Indiana University of South Bend.

Melissa Luan started her musical path with the piano at the age of 3 and has been playing for over 21 years.  She then began violin at the age of 7 and made music an avid part of her life.  She has always been a part of orchestra and many other musical programs in the state of Indiana.  Throughout high school she won numerous competitions in piano including the LaPorte Young Artists Competition, Fort Wayne Young Artist competition, and the South Bend Young artist competitions.  Being the grand prize winner of the three competitions, she was able to perform with these orchestras in 2001 and 2002.  Ms. Luan was also concertmaster for Penn High School and also the South Bend Youth Symphony Orchestra during her high school years.  She then went on to pursue a degree in piano performance at IUSB and became a part of the prestigious Toradze Piano Studio.  She graduated in spring 2007 with her bachelor’s degree with high distinction and also received the Indiana University Arts Excellence Award. Ms. Luan is currently pursuing her master’s at IUSB as well.  In addition to her studies, she also has her own piano studio of over 40 students; ranging from age 4 to adult!  She enjoys teaching and is excited to building more students in her studio.

Christina is our violist.  A member of a very musical family, she started playing piano at age 6 , violin at age 10, and added viola as a new instrument when she was 16.  She graduated from Penn High School in 1999 where she spent three years in Advanced Orchestra and participated in various instrumental ensembles for contests and perfomance.  She attended the University of Notre Dame where she double majored in premedical studies and music theory and history.  Christina's instrument concentration was violin.  While at Notre Dame, she also participated as a violist in the symphony orchestra and the chamber orchestra which  performs with the chorale.  She graduated in 2004.  Christina also spent several years traveling on weekends with her family teaching beginning string orchestra and violin  to children and adults in the Kalamazoo and Detroit, Michigan areas.  She has participated in various church orchestras as string section leader  for several years.  She is married and a mom to two children.  She is also working on her master's degree in Music Education and teaching private violin and viola lessons in her home.

David is the cellist and solo vocalist for the quartet.  He began playing cello at the age of  four and has been playing for over 21 years.  He was a member of the South Bend Youth Symphony for three years and was cello section leader of the Penn High School Advanced Orchestra for four years.  David has participated in Fischoff Chamber Music competition ensembles and has competed in the division one ISSMA competitions, receiving first place ratings for both district and state competitions for numerous years;  not only for solo cello, but for instrumental ensemble and vocal performances as well.  He also joined Nancy Minks Chamber Singers of South Bend for two years and was the praise team leader at Grace United Methodist Church for four years.  David attended Western Michigan University, majoring in Aviation Flight Science with minors in business and cello performance.  He was a member of Western Michigan Symphony Orchestra and WMU cello studio, studying under Bruce Uchimura for five years.  Currently, David is the president and owner of Howard's Home Improvement, Inc., providing full service property management, custom remodeling, additions, and home repairs in the South Bend, Kalamazoo, and Michiana areas with a sister company, Guys and Tools, Inc., in Bloomington, Indiana.