Sips & Sounds - String Quartet

Violinist Carmen Abelson (she/her/hers) works throughout the Chicagoland and Midwest areas as an orchestral, chamber, and solo performer and music educator. Currently assistant principal 2nd violin of the West Michigan Symphony, a tenured member of the Illinois Symphony, Illinois Philharmonic, and Elgin Symphony Orchestras, she also performs with Chicago Sinfonietta, 5th Wave Ensemble, and diverse regional ensembles. As well, Abelson teaches violin through the People’s Music School SLAM program, at Glenbard East high school, and maintains a private studio. Abelson holds degrees from Rice, Sam Houston State, and DePaul Universities where she pursued interests in music history, period performance, and pedagogy in addition to violin playing. Having performed chamber music throughout Chicago as a Civic Fellow during her three-year stint with the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, Abelson is a current member of Varo String Quartet and Four Equals. Outside the world of classical music, she performs in the family band “Susan and Sons” with her mother and sister and with the Bristol Busk ‘n’ Frolic at the Bristol Renaissance Faire.

Bethany Pereboom believes that music is a powerful tool to connect people and is passionate about engaging people in her community as well as in the concert hall. As a supporter and advocate for this diverse musical community, she performs with and serves on the board for 5th Wave Collective, a Chicago-based chamber music collective that programs womxn and gender non-conforming composers, and for Sound Mind, a nonprofit committed to promoting mental wellness in the classical music world. She holds titled positions with Illinois Symphony, Orchestra Iowa, Rockford Symphony, Jackson Symphony, and performs in many special events in the Chicago area. 

Bethany has been inspired by her primary artist-teachers Peter Slowik, Michelle LaCourse, and Bradley Ottesen of the Fry Street Quartet, and has a Bachelor of Music degree from Utah State University and a Master of Music from Boston University in viola performance.

Bethany is a devoted auntie, eternal dog-lover, and avid cyclist.

Allison Chambers is a former member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago and Elmhurst Symphony Orchestra, and presently performs with the South Bend Symphony and Illinois Symphony Orchestras. She is also an active chamber musician with Fifth Wave Collective, a performing group working to bring the music of women to the foreground of classical music.

Allie has had the pleasure of performing and collaborating with a diverse array of arts organizations including Storycatchers Theatre, Chicago Fringe Opera, and the Peacherine Ragtime Society Orchestra. She has spent her summers conducting a European concert tour with the Buffalo Grove High School Orchestras, prepping music in the Grant Park Music Festival library, and concertizing across wine country with Festival Napa Valley.

Ms. Chambers holds a bachelor’s degree in music education from Elmhurst College and a master’s degree in cello performance from the Chicago College of Performing Arts. She plays a modern cello by Chicago maker Sean Colledge.

When she isn’t behind her cello, you can find her enjoying time with loved ones, exploring the outdoors, or curled up with a good book and her Chihuahua, Mabel.