Well-Strung Returning to Cafe Istanbul, 3/18

Now in the midst of their second international concert tour, Well-Strung, The Singing String Quartet, will return to New Orleans with their latest production, "POPssical" at Cafe Istanbul on March 18 at 8:00 PM for one show only. Well-Strung have quickly gained national and international attention for their unique mash-up of string quartet and boy band. The foursome features classical musicians who sing, and in their all new show "POPssical" they put their own spin on the music of Mozart, Beethoven, Ravel, U2, Miley Cyrus, One Direction, Madonna and more. The production was directed by Donna Drake, is written by the quartet, and includes musical arrangements by Well-Strung, Dana Levinson and Bruce Carter and videos by Randy Rainbow. The four group members are Edmund Bagnell (first violin), Christopher Marchant (second violin), Daniel Shevlin (cello) and Trevor Wadleigh (viola). Tickets are $40 each and available at www.cafeistanbulnola.com.

Well-Strung's new CD entitled POPssical will be released on June 16, 2015 by Twist Records.

The group recently posted new videos of their medley of "Let It Go" - the breakout smash for Idina Menzel - plus "Do You Wanna Build A Snowman" from Frozen which they created with director Richard Jay-Alexander for the grand opening of the Walt Disney Theater in Florida, and a video of their stirring performance of Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah with an introduction by Kristin Chenoweth from their concert with her in Provincetown last summer.

In the past year, they have also performed on NBC's TODAY Show with Kathie Lee & Hoda and Andy Cohen's Watch What Happens Live. The New York Times writing about the group's current show said "Well-Strung, a talented quartet of men who sing and play string instruments - got its start in Provincetown and brilliantly fuses pop and classical music from Madonna to Beethoven." The group also recently enjoyed their first major magazine cover spread in Metrosource; were called "absolutely amazing" by BBC Radio host Jo Good during their London debut; and were referred to as "the hottest thing with a bow since Jennifer Lawrence in The Hunger Games" by the New York Daily News.

The foursome first began performing together in a workshop production of their debut show directed by Ms. Drake at Ars Nova in NYC on February of 2012. That same show sold out at Joe's Pub in May of 2012 before having an extended debut run that summer at The Art House in Provincetown, MA and playing Off-Broadway at the Marjorie S. Deane Little Theater the following fall. Other of the groups most recent highlights include making their debut on London's West End at the Leicester Square Theatre, performing at Vienna's LifeBall on the same bill as Kesha, and returning to P-Town's Art House theatre in 2014 for their third consecutive summer-long premiere of a new show. In October they were featured in Tony-winner Joanna Gleason's critically acclaimed new show in New York at 54 Below and in New Orleans at Le Petit Theatre, and in December shared the bill with Broadway performers Norm Lewis, Sierra Boggess and opera star Deborah Voigt in a star-studded lineup directed by Richard Jay-Alexander to open Orlando's new Walt Disney Theater. The quartet's debut album was released on Twist Records and was produced by Matt Farber (Founder of LOGO Network) and Mark Cortale. The music video for their "mash-up" of Mozart meets Kelly Clarkson debuted in summer 2013 and was featured in the Huffington Post, ABC Television, and many other media outlets.

Well-Strung's national tour continues with upcoming dates with the Gay Men's Chorus of Los Angeles (Feb. 28), at the Frauenthal Center in Muskegon, MI (March 3), The Dorothy Menker Theatre in Palo Hills, IL (Mar. 7), 54 Below in New York City (March 27), Lancaster Performing Arts Center in Lancaster, CA (April 24) and South Orange Performing Arts Center in NJ (June 12). Summer 2015 they return to Provincetown's Art House with an all-new show to be directed by Mr. Jay-Alexander, who has directed productions for Barbra Streisand, Kristin Chenoweth, Il Divo, Bernadette Peters and Bette Midler, among others. For tickets please visit www.well-strung.com.

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