The 2020–21 academic year marks the inauguration of the Temianka Quartet at Chapman University’s Hall-Musco Conservatory of Music in the College of Performing Arts (CoPA). The ensemble is comprised of string students who are selected based on criteria that include talent, academic scholarship, and demonstrated leadership.

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Zeinab Dabbah and Daniel Temianka

The new ensemble is supported by the conservatory’s Henri Temianka Endowed Scholarship for String Studies, which was established in 2013, along with the Temianka Endowed Professorship, thanks to a generous gift of $2.25m from Daniel Temianka and Zeinab Dabbah in memory of the gifted and indefatigable artist and ambassador of classical music.

Temianka Quartet members uphold the ensemble’s mission to serve as ambassadors of excellence for the conservatory and CoPA through on- and off-campus performances, outreach visits and activities that promote string education in local schools, supporting recruitment of new students for Chapman and the conservatory, and learning how to work as a pre-professional chamber music group.

2020–21 Temianka Quartet Members

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Sandra Bouissou

Sandra Bouissou ’21, violin 1

Sandra Bouissou started her violin studies at the age of three with the Suzuki method. She attended the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Pre-College division throughout high school, studying under Bettina Mussumeli. She was co-concertmaster of the Peninsula Youth Orchestra and won their concerto competition in 2016. She has participated in masterclasses with renowned musicians including Sarah Chang, Ronald Copes, the Juilliard String Quartet, Cho-Liang Lin, Nicholas Mann, the Pacifica Quartet, and Pinchas Zukerman. Bouissou has spent many summers at festivals, notably Brevard Music Festival and the past three summers at the Aspen Music Festival, studying with Robert Chen and Connie Heard. She is currently in her senior year at Chapman as a violin performance major studying with William Fitzpatrick, director of strings studies and Chapman’s Henri Temianka Endowed Professor of Music. In addition, Bouissou has served as concertmaster of The Chapman Orchestra since her first year.

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Grace Gee

Grace Gee ’21, violin 2

Grace Gee has played the violin since the age of five and is a senior violin performance major at Chapman. Gee also studies with William Fitzpatrick and says of her goals as a member of the quartet, “I hope to see myself constantly improve my technical and musical abilities as well as expand my repertoire and performance opportunities.”

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Devin Lopez

Devin Lopez ’22, cello 

Devin Lopez began playing cello at age 11 and quickly realized his love for learning and performing historical works. Since then, he has performed in a variety of ensembles, ranging from the Las Vegas Young Artists Orchestra to the Nevada All-State Orchestra, and has competed at the state level for the Nevada Music Educators Association’s Solo & Ensemble competition. He has also traveled to Spain on tour with the Las Vegas Academy of the Arts, performing in both Barcelona and Zaragoza. Lopez is currently pursuing his passions of music and political science at Chapman where he has had the opportunity to take part in a variety of masterclasses and engage in the political process.

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Cayden Walters

Cayden Walters ’22, viola

A junior viola performance major and math minor, Cayden Walters has grown artistically under the tutelage of Chapman Professor Robert Becker and Phillip Triggs during high school. Before Chapman, Walters performed in several honor ensembles, one of which was the NAFME All-National Honor Symphony Orchestra. There, he earned the associate principal viola position. At Chapman, Walters received the Golden Ear and Orchestra awards, and he actively participates in the instrumental music program, maintaining a 3.8+ GPA.