ESME (eclectic string music ensemble), classical crossover

Featuring WMS Associate Concertmaster Gene Hahn and Detroit Symphony cellist Jeremy Crosmer, ESME arranges and performs their own covers and mashups of classical and popular music from Ravel, Bach and Beethoven to Katy Perry, Taylor Swift and Led Zeppelin.

GENE HAHN
Gene Hahn is originally from Queens, New York and made his debut at Carnegie Hall where he was invited to perform as a guest soloist at the age of 13. He continued to perform regularly at Carnegie as a member of the New York Youth Symphony. During this time he also performed the Sibelius Violin Concerto with the Mannes College of Music Orchestra and was a winner of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Young Musicians’ Competition. He received his bachelor’s degree in performance at the Manhattan School of Music as well as a Master’s degree in performance at the Esther Boyer School of Music in Philadelphia where he was awarded full scholarship. Gene studied chamber music with the American String Quartet as well as orchestral repertoire with members of The Philadelphia Orchestra and The New York Philharmonic. He has also participated in numerous chamber music festivals including Musicorda at Mount Holyoke College and The Quartet Program at Bucknell University. After finishing school he toured with the Philadelphia Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra. He has performed as soloist, chamber and orchestral musician at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall, Carnegie Hall and Verizon Hall in Philadelphia. Upon moving to Michigan Gene joined the Grand Rapids Symphony. He also performs with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and as associate concertmaster of The West Michigan Symphony and is the founding member of ESME.

JEREMY CROSMER
Jeremy Crosmer completed multiple graduate degrees from the University of Michigan in cello, composition and theory pedagogy, and received his D.M.A. in 2012 at age 24. From 2012 to 2017 he served as the Assistant Principal cellist in the Grand Rapids Symphony, and joined the Detroit Symphony Orchestra in May of 2017. Jeremy is the composer and arranger for the GRS Music for Health Initiative, which pairs symphonic musicians with music therapists to bring classical music to hospitals. In March of 2017 the Helen DeVos Children's Hospital launched a music channel that runs continuously, using four hours of meditative music composed by Jeremy and performed by musicians of the GRS. In April of 2013 Jeremy toured London with the Grand Valley State University Chamber Orchestra, performing the Boccherini G Major Concerto, No. 7. He performed the Vivaldi Double Concerto with Alicia Eppinga and the GRS in March of 2016. While still in school, Jeremy was awarded the prestigious Theodore Presser Graduate Music Award to publish, record and perform his Crosmer-Popper duets. He recorded the duets with Julie Albers, and both sheet music and CD recordings are available online. Jeremy has taught music theory, pre-calculus and cello at universities across Michigan. He draws mazes, writes science fiction and plays good old country fiddle in his spare time.

ESME (ECLECTIC STRING MUSIC ENSEMBLE)
ESME is an acoustic string band exclusive in West Michigan in blending classical music training with popular music creating a live performance experience accessible to different ages and varied tastes. Their enrichment programs are designed to help students apply their exposure to popular music to their study of classical music. Combining player interaction as well as improvisation with the familiarity of pop music, they seek to engage students towards finding new and creative ways of exploring their classical instruments and growing their school music programs. After being seen performing at a local Grand Rapids bar the band was invited to perform on Fox17’s morning news segment. Making regular appearances at Grand Rapids high schools throughout the year ESME performs workshops and clinic concerts with student orchestras using ESME written orchestral arrangements. Past ESME clinic concerts have included East Grand Rapids High School, Grandville High School, Grand Rapids Christian High School and Troy High School orchestras. ESME conducted residencies at Aquinas College, The Hillsdale String Festival and the nationally renowned, Philadelphia based young musicians training program Project 440, collaborating with and writing string arrangements for musicians of the Philadelphia Orchestra. ESME also performs at concert and social venues, art galleries, movie theaters and popular bar/restaurants in Grand Rapids. Hailed by Revue West Michigan magazine as a “String duo for the age of musical omnivores” ESME’s debut CD album, which includes their original cover/mash-up arrangements of music ranging from Bach, Beethoven and Ravel to Katy Perry, Taylor Swift and Led Zeppelin, is the first ever classical instrumental album to have been chosen by their recording engineer at River City Studios Ltd for a Grammy submission. ESME continues to innovate exciting and unique collaboration projects including a recent live music and dance production premiering original choreography by dancers of the Grand Rapids Ballet Company and a summer intensive for string students in collaboration with musicians of the New York Philharmonic and hosted by Grand Rapids Community College. ESME band members have performance and composition degrees from the Manhattan School of Music and University of Michigan and have performed as members of The Grand Rapids Symphony and The Detroit Symphony Orchestra.

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