Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Legacy Strings. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Legacy Strings, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?
Creating the quartet has been a very meaningful project! Our violinists recognized the lack of string musicians performing together in Northeast Louisiana. The Legacy Strings “project”was born from their realization of the need for this type of musical offering along with the increase of wedding and event venues opening throughout the area.
Culture and traditions are rooted in music. Music plays such a vital role in our everyday lives. We listen to it while exercising, while cleaning, driving to and from work, in worship, it’s heard overhead in the grocery store and in shopping malls. Music makes us feel a wide range of emotions. Legacy Strings creates a soundtrack for a wedding day, party, banquet gala… even background music at a restaurant. Musicians performing live brings a touch of elegance and sophistication to any event and can make it even more memorable. Having the ability to be part of these special moments in people lives is not something we take lightly. It is very meaningful to us to have any opportunity to perform music TOGETHER, no matter the occasion.
Legacy Strings, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
While mainly performing as a string quartet, we call ourselves Legacy Strings and can offer string trio, duet, and solo options. This can be for a variety of reasons; budget, one of our quartet members has a scheduling conflict, the venue is space is not large enough for four players, etc.
Gen X, Millennial, and Gen Z; all three generations are represented in Legacy Strings. We feel that this is something that makes our group unique as well as enjoyable.
Our Legacy Strings members are:
Therese Pirkey, age 37 – 1st violin – Wife and Mother, Therese is currently in Occupational Therapy school at the University of Louisiana at Monroe
Maxwell Hyde, age 26- 2nd violin -Instructor and Greenhouse Laboratory Supervisor at Louisiana Tech University
Sarah Bell , age 47- viola – former Orchestra Director who moved to Monroe LA from Columbia SC in May of 2025
Natalie Tellifero, age 36 – cello – Former Youth Minister who is currently an Orchestra Director with Monroe City Schools. Bass is her primary instrument.
We’ve introduced each other to new music (from our generation) … Flashback to our first rehearsal in May where we played through music that Sarah played in her high school quartet. “Annie’s Song” by John Denver and “From a Distance ” by Bette Midler aren’t quite as popular as they were in the mid-90s. We can joke with our youngest quartet member, Maxwell, when he doesn’t know a song that we are playing by the Beatles. Therese, Natalie, and Maxwell are all very familiar with the hits of Taylor Swift. Sarah often has to look up some of her music in order to stay current with the “younger generation”. We play a wide variety of music; everything from Bach to Beyonce. Rock and Pop music that has been arranged to sound classical is very popular right now thanks to the “Bridgerton” series. Contemporary Worship songs are also frequent requests. If a song is requested and we do not have it in our music library, we will work our hardest to find it or have it specially arranged for the occasion.
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
The goal of Legacy Strings is to provide live string music for all occasions throughout Northeast Louisiana. Maxwell and Therese recognized a need for this type of musical offering after noticing a rise in number of wedding and event spaces across our community. In today’s digital age people frequently choose to have music playing over a PA or speaker system for their event. You can see and hear almost any band, artist, Symphony, and other ensembles with the simple click of a mousepad. In the post COVID world, more and more people are choosing live music options again. Live music is trending!
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
Performing music together to create memorable moments for weddings, community organizations as well as community members. This provides opportunities for Therese and Maxwell to take a break from their 9-5 and enjoy playing instruments they began playing as children. It provides Natalie the ability to further challenge herself by performing regularly on her secondary instrument. It provides Sarah, who moved to Louisiana in May, the opportunity to meet people and become involved in the local music community. Perhaps the most meaningful part of the creation of Legacy Strings is the community and friendship we have found within this group. Our rehearsals are time together that we look forward to. It’s rehearsal with 3 generations of advice and insight, music therapy, coffee, and LOTS of laughter.
Contact Info:
- Facebook: @LegacyStrings
- Other: Email: [email protected]
Image Credits
Ben Tellifero