The sound of music will echo throughout Lyon College as the school hosts its annual West Endowed Concert at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 31, in Bevens Music Room.

In a program titled "The Magic of Sixty-Nine Strings," harpist Elisabeth Chardonet, double bassist John Dahlstrand and the Rockefeller String Quartet will play works of Bottesini, Brahms, Caplet and Ravel.

The Dan C. and Sidney Childs West String Endowment was established by Dr. and Mrs. West in May 1981 for the purpose of offering live musical performances or stringed instrument instruction at Lyon College. The West String Endowment has supported free concerts on campus by such fine ensembles as the Trio Cassatt, the Guild Trio and the Quapaw Quartet. In 1998, the endowment brought a Baroque chamber ensemble to campus to perform in a Harlequin Theatre production of The Beggar's Opera. Dr. West was president of Lyon College – then Arkansas College – from 1972 to 1988.

Dahlstrand graduated from the Indiana University School of Music in the spring of 1999. While there he won numerous competitions and honors both in and out of school. In 1998, he was the winner of the American String Teacher's Association biannual string competition at the state and national levels. His recitals at IU were awarded the highest honor bestowed upon them, the Performer's Certificate. His 1999, performance of David Anderson's Concerto for Double Bass strings and harp (1997) also brought acclaim. Dahlstrand is in his fourth season as bassist and arts partner with the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra and also teaches as part of the string faculty at Hendrix College in Conway.

French harpist Elisabeth Chardonnet graduated from the Conservatoire National Superieur de Musique de Paris in 1995 with a unanimous first prize. She attended the Indiana University School of Music where she was awarded a Performer Diploma in 1996, and the prestigious Artist Diploma in 1997. Her solo harp CD, Angelus, was released in July of 2000. She works as principal harpist of the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, freelance musician and recitalist and private harp teacher.

The Rockefeller Quartet consists of Christian Baker, Darby BeDell, Katherine Reynolds and Daniel Cline.

Baker joined the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra and the Rockefeller String Quartet in September 2004. He also is currently on the faculties at Hendrix College and Ouachita Baptist University. He began studying piano at age six and violin at age 10. He received his bachelor of music degree in violin performance and pedagogy from Brigham Young University and his graduate degrees in violin performance from Florida State University.

Darby BeDell is in his second season as an arts partner with the Arkansas Symphony's Rockefeller Quartet. In 2005, he completed his master's of music degree at the University of Wisconsin where he studied with professor David Perry and received the graduate fellowship in the Hunt Quartet. A native of Illinois, BeDell was a Chancellor's Scholar at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville and graduated magna cum laude with undergraduate degrees in music performance and genetic engineering.

Katherine Reynolds joined the ASO as principal violinist and arts partner in 2000. She received a master of music degree from SUNY at Stony Brook University and a bachelor of music degree from the St. Louis Conservatory. Reynolds also holds principal positions in the Conway Symphony and the Pine Bluff Symphony. In addition to teaching private lessons in Little Rock, Reynolds also teaches viola at the University of Central Arkansas.