Rico McNeela, violin
Robert Garcia, horn
Greg Kostraba, piano

“They are fine musicians, and they play with heart and conviction.” — American Record Guide

Hailed by WORLD Magazine for their “vigorous sensitivity of execution,” Quelque Chose is “something” distinctive – an ensemble dedicated to performing familiar works for violin, horn, and piano, exploring unfamiliar by-ways of the repertoire, and presenting arrangements of music by American composers. Founded by public radio personality Greg Kostraba in 2007, Quelque Chose weaves “their distinctive sounds to create a shimmering musical fabric.” (Toledo Blade)

The members of Quelque Chose, seasoned performers with a deep commitment to chamber music, blend their individual musical idioms to create concerts called “lively and enlightening” by the Toledo Blade. Quelque Chose’s debut recording, funded in part by the Indiana Arts Commission, was recently released on Kickshaw Records.

Quelque Chose has also performed live on WGTE-FM in Toledo, and given recitals throughout Ohio and Indiana, including the Ohio State University-Lima campus, the Bluffton University Artist Series, the inaugural Defiance Community Cultural Council series, the Musical Arts Series at Firelands, Chamber Music Toledo’s Artist Series, and the Tippecanoe Chamber Music Society.

Named after the French word for “something,” Quelque Chose is something worth hearing!

 

Rico McNeela, violin

Rico McNeela serves as Conductor and Music Director of the St. Joseph Symphony Orchestra and teach at Missouri Western State University in St. Joseph, MO. He has also served as Director of Orchestral Studies at the University of Toledo, and taught at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington, and at Allegheny College in Meadville, PA. He studied at the Cleveland Institute with David Cerone and Linda Sharon, and also at the University of Michigan with Paul Makanowitzky and Eugene Bossart. He has performed extensively as conductor, violinist and violist. He has served on the faculties of several summer music festivals including the Lake Luzerne Chamber Music Festival, the Hot Springs Music Festival, the Music Festival of Arkansas, and the Allegheny Music Festival. Mr. McNeela has performed as concertmaster of the North Arkansas Symphony, the Kalamazoo Symphony, the Ft. Smith Symphony, the Allegheny Symphony, and the Canary Islands International Opera festival. He has been featured on the Kickshaw, Cambria and Nuance record labels.

 

Robert Garcia, horn

A native of El Paso, Texas, Robert Garcia is an active chamber musician performing extensively throughout the Midwest as a member of Quelque Chose. He was a semi-finalist in the American Horn Competition, a finalist in the CCM Concerto Competition, and was a member of the Waco, San Angelo, and Cincinnati Philharmonia Orcheastras as well as the the Cincinnati Contemporary Music Ensemble, and the Cincinnati Wind Symphony.

Robert holds a Master of Music in Horn Performance from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, and a Bachelor of Music Education from Baylor University. He has studied with Michael Hatfield, John Dressler, William C. Robinson, and Nick Smith. He has performed in master classes for Philip Farkas, Dale Clevenger, Herman Baumann, Barry Tuckwell, Froydis Wee Wekre, Eric Ruske, Myron Bloom, Lowell Greer, and Richard Seraphinoff and has had extensive chamber music coachings under Sandra Rivers.

Robert’s strong interest in “New Music” led him to seek-out student composers while in college and graduate school and encourage them to include parts for him in their music. The most notable of these collaborations was with the composer Chris Lastovicka, and can be found on the recording, “Fortune Has Turned,” available at http://aharipress.com/fortune.html. He can also be heard on the Delos, Mark and Centaur record labels.

When not playing his horn, Robert is an admissions and financial aid administrator who has worked at the Corcoran College of Art + Design, Columbia College Chicago, Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, DePauw University, and the University of Cincinnati.