Recognized for its exceptional musical talent and expertise, and “finely blended sound,” the Samford String Quartet has received critical acclaim since it formulation in 2011, performing in concerts throughout the United States and around the world.

The Pell City Library will welcome the Samford String Quartet for its upcoming Wild and Wonderful Wednesday program scheduled for Wednesday, April 18 at noon. 

Expect a stellar performance from Jeffrey Z. Flaniken at the violin, Samuel Nordlund on the cello, Angela Flaniken on the viola, and Caroline Nordlund on the violin. Each member of this outstanding quartet is an accomplished musician with a lifetime of expertise and accomplishment. 

Jeffrey Z. Flaniken joined the faculty at Samford University in 1994.  He teaches violin and musical theory at Samford, but also enjoys a multi-faceted career as a recitalist, orchestral musician, soloist, and chamber music performer.  At the age of seventeen, Flaniken won a chair in the Louisville Orchestra, launching his performing career.  Since then, he has played with the Alabama, Cincinnati, and Atlanta orchestras, the Tanglewood and Aspen Festival orchestras, the Cincinnati Ballet and Opera orchestras, and many others. In 2016, Flaniken performed the works of Andrew Rudin at Carnegie Hall. On a local level, he has performed at Artburst, City Stages, BAMA, the Festival of Arts, the Gerhart Chamber Music Festival, and on the Birmingham Chamber Music Society Series.  He earned a Bachelor Degree in Music at Philadelphia College of the Performing Arts, and his Master Degree in Music at the University of Cincinnati.  While at Philadelphia College of the Performing Arts and at Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music, he had the opportunity to study with Dorothy Delay, Hyo Kang, Masao Kawasaki, and Kurt Sassmansshaus.  While in London, he also studied with Simon Fischer.  An avid and beloved instructor, Flaniken’s students have played on NPR’s From the Top, have become soloists with various orchestras and been accepted as such notable schools as Julliard, Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music Indiana University, Curtis Institute and more.  He and his wife Angela have three grown sons and two daughters-in-law.  He enjoys playing chamber music with his wife, playing tennis, hiking, and bird-watching.           

Samuel Nordlund teaches cello and chamber music at Samford University. He is also on the faculty at the Lutheran Summer Music Festival, where he teaches cello, performs with the Omega Quartet and directs the Early Music Collegium Musicum.  Other faculty engagements include instructing at Samford University’s Piano and Chamber Music Institute and teaching at the Alabama School of Fine Arts.  He is member of the Huntsville Symphony Orchestra and a substitute musician with the Alabama, Charleston, and Tuscaloosa Symphony Orchestras. He earned a doctorate from the University of Alabama, and a Master’s Degree from Northwestern University.  He has studied under Hans Jorgen Jensen, Carlton McCreery, Richard Aaron, Steven Geber, Alan Stepansky, Thomas Lanschoot, and Partricia Pilon. He currently serves as President of the Alabama Orchestra Foundation, an organization, which organizes and supports student orchestra events across the state such as the All-State Orchestra Festival.  Before moving to Alabama, he was a member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago and performed as a substitute for with the Chicago and Milwaukee Symphony Orchestras.  He served as Assistant Director of Performance Activities at the Music Institute of Chicago, and Music Director of Scrollworks and the Metropolitan Youth Orchestra of Central Alabama.

Angela Marshall Flaniken has served as an instructor at Samford University’s School of Fine Arts since 1995 and has played with the Samford String Quartet since its founding.  Her musical experience includes a full-time membership and extensive performance in several orchestras, including the Louisville Orchestra, the Boston Chamber Orchestra, the Cincinnati Symphony, the Columbus Symphony, the Alabama Symphony Orchestra, the Handel-Haydn Society and the Aspen Festival Orchestra.  In addition, she has performed at such venues as the Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall, Faneuil Hall and more.  She is also a recording artist, and has made many orchestral, country, rock and gospel recordings, and has appeared on the Birmingham Chamber Music Society concert series, as well as BAMA, Artburst, UAB, Birmingham Southern, and Montevallo Series. Flaniken earned her Bachelor of Music Education degree at the University of Louisville, and her Master of Music degree at Boston University.  Her most influential instructors include Walter Trampler, Masao Kawasaki, and Eugene Lehner.

Caroline Nordlund is a teacher and lecturer at Samford University, instructing students in string methods and instrumental pedagogy, in addition to her participation and performance with the Samford String Quartet. Ms. Nordlund is also an instructor of violin at the Alabama School of Fine Arts, and on the faculty for the Lutheran Summer Music Festival where she teaches violin and musicianship, and coaches sectionals.  She is also a member of the Omega String Quartet at the Lutheran Summer Music Festival, performing in a variety of chamber and solo concerts. Ms. Nordlund has performed with the Alabama Symphony, the Charleston Symphony, the Tuscaloosa Symphony, the Northwest Indiana Symphony, the Augusta Symphony, and more.  She is a member of the String Theory Birmingham, an instrumental group of conservatory-trained musicians who perform original and contemporary pop music incorporating stringed instruments and acoustic bass and drums. Caroline is also an active presenter and adjudicator on the state and national levels.  She formerly served as director of Scrollworks Youth Music School in Birmingham, Alabama, a non-profit organization making music instruction available to all.  A native of Hartsville, South Carolina, Nordlund graduated summa cum laude from the University of South Carolina with a Bachelor of Music in violin performance.  She earned a Master in Music in violin performance and pedagogy from Northwestern, and while there, was awarded the Richard and Helen Thomas Fellowship.  Caroline served on the faculty of Northwestern University Music Academy, teaching violin and Kindermusik, and acting as assistant group director of Northwestern Strings.  She has studied under Mimi Zweig, Vadim Gluzman, Benny Kim, Chee-Yun, Herbert Greenberg, Ian Swensen, Axel Strauss, and Thomas Moore.

These talented musicians perform as the Samford String Quartet on Wednesday, April 18 at noon in the Pell City Library for its Wild and Wonderful Wednesday series.  Don’t miss this concert.  It promises to be one of the seasons finest.  The performance is free and open to the public.  Light refreshments will be served afterwards.

For more information, contact the Pell City Library at 205-884-1015.