The Crossing Borders Music String Quartet
Caroline Jesalva is a Chicago-based violinist, improviser, and curator traversing the worlds of improvisation, performance art, and experimental music.
Originally from Raleigh, North Carolina, Caroline began her musical journey when she was four years old through the Suzuki Music Program at Meredith College. She continued her violin studies with Eric Pritchard (Ciompi String Quartet) at Duke University, orchestral studies with the North Carolina Symphony, jazz voice studies with Triangle Youth Jazz Ensemble (Essentially Ellington 2017, 2018), and chamber music through Mallarme Chamber Ensemble. She was the 2018 Prize Winner of the Chapel Hill Philharmonia Young Artist Concerto Competition, a two-time consecutive winner of the Philharmonic Association Concerto Competition, and a finalist in the Ronald Sachs International Music Competition. She has also held fellowships through YellowBarn Young Artists, Bang-on-A Can, Black House Collective, A Far Cry, and Quince Ensemble. In 2023, Caroline completed her studies at the New England Conservatory of Music with a B.M. in Violin Performance, under the tutelage of Nicholas Kitchen.
At NEC, she developed an original practice centered on contemporary, improvised and experimental music composition and performance. Her music continually concerns the experimentation and intermingling of violin and vox, currently finding an expressive home in many disciplines, including experimental theater, songwriting, puppetry, performance art, classical music, and free jazz.
Since moving to Chicago, Caroline has found undying love, creative inspiration, and exuberant community in the experimental, avant-garde, and new music scenes. A 3-Arts Make A Wave Awardee, she has enjoyed a wonderful and expanding career in performing, curating, and teaching. She has enjoyed performing with ensembles A Far Cry, Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Callithumpian Consort, [nec] shivaree, Manual Cinema, ECCE Arts Ensemble, and currently, is the violinist of Crossing Borders Music Quartet. Since 2022, Caroline has been the co-artistic director of Music in the Garden, an independent concert series for improvisers, creatives, and experimental artists hosted at Elastic Arts Foundation in Chicago. Additionally, throughout the year, she curates a series for experimental and improvised music at Stola Contemporary Art. When not performing or creating, Caroline teaches; and she has taught at The People’s Music School (Chicago, IL), Mallarme Chamber Youth Orchestra (Chapel Hill, NC), New England Conservatory Preparatory School (Boston, MA), as a 2020 CPP Teaching Fellow at Boston Conservatory Lab Charter School, and through Crossing Borders Music’s educational initiatives in Chicago Public Schools.
Violinist Sarah Kim has performed extensively as a chamber musician throughout the United States, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. As a resident artist at the Apple Hill Center for Chamber Music from 2008 2013, Sarah performed internationally with the Apple Hill String Quartet, directed summer chamber music sessions, and taught master classes in universities such as UCLA, Colby College, Boston Conservatory, University of New Mexico, and the Royal Irish Academy of Music.
Through Apple Hill’s innovative Playing for Peace program, Sarah performed and taught chamber music workshops in major conflict areas of the world, including Israel/Palestine, Cyprus, and Ireland. From 2017-2023, Sarah was a Resident Musician with Community MusicWorks, a nationally recognized community-based music performance and education program.
In addition to her work at CMW, Sarah taught at the College of Holy Cross in Worcester, MA, and from 2021-2023, Sarah taught violin and chamber music as a Teaching Associate at Brown University. Currently, Sarah teaches violin, viola, and chamber music at Loyola University Chicago and during the summer is on faculty at the Kinhaven Senior Session. Sarah has received degrees from Indiana University, Yale School of Music, and Stony Brook University, where her principal teachers were Josef Gingold, Miriam Fried, Peter Oundjian, Pamela Frank, and Phil Setzer.
Wilfred Farquharson is a violist from the Atlanta, GA area that now calls Chicago, IL his home. He currently serves as Artistic Co-Director of Crossing Borders Music (CBM) as well as violist of the CBM, D-Composed, and PlayOutChicago ensembles. As a member of these ensembles, Wilfred concertizes all over the Chicago area, as well as nationally and internationally. Recently, he made his solo debut with the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, and has been a featured artist on WFMT’s Rush Hour Recital series. Orchestrally, Wilfred has performed with and been a substitute musician with the Lyric Opera of Chicago Orchestra, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Grant Park Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Chicago Philharmonic, Re-Collective Orchestra, Chicago Sinfonietta, Matt Jones Orchestra, Elgin Symphony Orchestra, Augusta Symphony Orchestra, and Elmhurst Symphony Orchestra. Furthermore, Wilfred joined Stevie Wonder’s “Sing a Song to Fix Our Nation’s Broken Heart” tour in 2024 for his Midwest dates. Other notable artists Wilfred has performed and/or recorded for are: Ms. Lauryn Hill, John Legend, Jessie Montgomery, Maria/Not for Radio from The Marias, Silkroad Ensemble, Burna Boy, Robert Glasper, Angel Bat Dawid, Carlos Simon, Andra Day, DRAMA, Rachel Barton-Pine, Arthur Verocai, Chance the Rapper, Jamila Woods, Ken Peplowski, and Avery R. Young. Wilfred obtained his undergraduate degree from the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University as a Hudson and Holland Scholar and Premier Young Artist Award recipient. He received his graduate degree with honors from the University of Southern California’s Thornton School of Music. Wilfred is also an alumnus of the Meadowmount School of Music, Bowdoin International Music Festival, Sewanee Summer Music Festival, and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra’s Talent Development Program. He also very proudly serves as a mentor for the Chicago Musical Pathways Initiative.
Tom Clowes is a Chicago-area cellist and Founder of Crossing Borders Music. Tom was a student of internationally acclaimed cellist Wendy Warner, former Detroit Symphony Orchestra Principal Cellist Italo Babini, and Lawrence University Conservatory of Music Professor Janet Anthony. As a member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, he played under conductors Riccardo Muti, Peter Oundjian, and Cliff Colnot. In the summers, he teaches at the Ambassadors Music Institute in Croix-des-Bouquets, Haiti. Before moving to Chicago, Tom was a member of the Tucson Symphony Orchestra. For twelve years, he proudly taught at the outstanding Chicago West Community Music Center of Garfield Park.
Partnering Performing Artists
The Cambodian Traditional Music Ensemble (mahori ensemble) of the National Cambodian Heritage Museum led by Resident Artist Punisa Pov (pictured here with members of Crossing Borders Music) is dedicated to sharing the richness of Cambodian culture through music. Music is just one way the museum serves the Chicago-area Cambodian refugee community through its Healing Arts programming. Since 2019, the ensemble and CBM have worked together to create a unique fusion of musical traditions. Learn more about the museum and its programs at the Cambodian Museum website.
A native of Lima, Peru possessing a dark, full-bodied lyric tenor voice, Luis Gálvez is one of the most sought-after singers in Chicago. Luis serves as Director of Music at Mary, Mother of Divine Grace Parish in Westchester, IL. A native of Lima, Peru, Luis is the Founder of North Shore Opera Hour, where he serves as Executive Director. He is on the Voice Faculty at Old Town School at Columbia College and is a well-known piano and voice instructor in the Chicagoland area. In 2013 Luis received the Peruvian Tumi Award in “recognition of entrepreneurs who build a prosperous and democratic America demonstrating our cultural contribution and strength, and the influence of Latin American immigrants.” He is a graduate of The Chicago College of Performing Arts, completed the Chicago Series in Liturgical Music at St. Joseph’s College in Rensellear, Indiana, and holds a Master and Doctor of Arts in Music Education from Rochville University in Florida. Since the beginnings of his career as church organist and choir director at the age of 10, Mr. Galvez-Alcantara has devoted his life to promoting his Peruvian heritage in music and song and as a mentor and teacher to young aspiring musicians to continue growing and learning in the vastness of gifts that only music can provide.
Gaurav Mazumdar is a versatile composer, performer and educator who has been a champion for the preservation of classical Indian music. Like his teacher, Ravi Shankar, he is committed to cross-cultural collaborations and has earned a reputation as the foremost musician of his generation for his contributions in making Indian music accessible and truly global, both in appreciation and understanding. He has collaborated with numerous western musicians such as Daniel Hope, Philip Glass and Kenny Werner; written compositions and performed with the English Chamber Orchestra, Britten Sinfonia, Scottish Symphony, Chicago Sinfonietta, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra among several others. He is the only Indian artiste to have performed at the Vatican. Mazumdar also won a Grammy Nomination in 2004 for his recording ‘East Meets West’ with Daniel Hope on the violin. When he is not performing he spends his time teaching students worldwide.
The Rohingya Master Musicians of the Rohingya refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh are valued partners of Crossing Borders Music. Their vision for the documentation of Rohingya musical traditions, and the Rohingya stories and histories embedded in each song, led to the creation of the Rohingya Online Music Library.
Past Partnering Performers
Dr. Tatev Amiryan is an award-winning composer and pianist. A native of Armenia and now based in the US, her works have been performed around the world. Tatev won First Prize in the Abundant Silence Composition Competition, the Armenian Allied Arts Composition Competition, and the Metropolitan Chorale of Kansas City’s Composition Contest. As a pianist, Tatev has performed extensively in Armenia, around the US, and in the UK.
Multi-faceted Palestinian/American musician Issa Boulos is an international award-winning composer, as well as an ‘ūd performer, ethnomusicologist, and teacher. His works have been performed by various groups and orchestras around the world. Throughout his career, Issa has injected new life into his music by incorporating traditional instruments in innovative ways. He has composed music for full orchestra, chamber, mixed ensembles, and written hundreds of songs including several hits. Among his commissions are four pieces for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, composition/performance for the Silk Road Ensemble, and original scores for award-winning documentaries, plays, feature films and musicals. Through these efforts, Issa has gained recognition in the United States, the Middle East, and Europe.
Jean-Paul Coffy traveled the world as the lead musician for the legendary, Grammy-nominated, politically influential folklore band Boukman Eksperyans. Coffy was born in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti and came to live in Chicago in September 2001. Coffy received his degree from the Academy of Music in Haiti and early childhood degree in the Waldorf education system. In Chicago, he and his wife Yakini founded La Grande Famille, an early childhood education program that includes music.
Born in Syria, percussionist Omar al Musfi began his musical training at a very young age. By the time he was ten, he had won several national competitions as an elementary school student. After graduating from the Syrian Conservatory of Music with a degree in percussion performance, al Musfi started performing extensively with the Syrian National Orchestra. Al Musfi has toured throughout the Middle East and North Africa, Europe, East Asia, and the United States. He has performed in prestigious venues such as the Kennedy Center, Symphony Center in Chicago, and at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention. He has collaborated with groups from a broad range of musical backgrounds, including classical, Middle Eastern and Fusion Jazz. Among them are the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Pacific Symphony Orchestra, Yo Yo Ma and the Silk Road Project, and contemporary pop artists such as Sting and Shakira, as well as many other groups representing a great diversity of styles.
Issam Rafea, oud, is the Winner of the 2010 “Best Composer Award” in Dubai International Film Festival (Muhr Arab) for the film Matar Ayloul, “September Rain.” Rafea was the Chair of the Arabic Music Department at High Institute of Music in Damascus and the principal conductor of Syrian National Orchestra for Arabic Music. Rafea has studied under Fayez Zahr El-Din, Aref Abdallah, and Askar Ali-Akbar. In Syria, Rafea has been an active composer and arranger for TV and theater since the 90s. In addition to solo appearances with the Syrian National Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Solhi Al Wadi, Rafea has performed internationally in France, Spain, Germany, Holland, Italy, Morocco, Iraq, Lebanon, Egypt, Turkey, Kuwait and United States. He’s participated in the Mediterranean Festival in Algeria, the World Universal Expo in Seville, Spain, Spiritual Music Festival Marseille, France, The Arabic Music Conferences in Cairo, and Babel Festival in Iraq.