By Julianne Homokay
Special to the Alpine Mountaineer
For those of you who aren’t familiar with Refresh, which describes itself as “a retreat on the mountain,” the facility is not just a yoga studio, although it does offer almost a dozen classes per week at multiple levels in yoga and tai chi.
Refresh is nestled in the San Bernardino Mountains near Lake Gregory.
Refresh strives to be “a community center for wellness” and offers new ways “to experience personal improvement” (refreshonthemountain.com). As such, in addition to the movement programs, you will find art studios; intimate spaces to relax, read a book, or simply hang out; opportunities to book the space for your own event such as a wedding or reunion; the occasional retreat or workshop; and concerts and recitals.
Refresh On The Mountain’s next concert offering will be the return of the Santiago String Quartet on Sunday, April 14 at 3 p.m.
Founded over 30 years ago in 1993, the Quartet has an impressive c.v., including past performances at the Bradford House in Placentia, the Richard Nixon Library and the Mammoth Lakes Sierra Chamber Music Festival, among other venues around Southern California.
The Quartet first performed at Refresh back in the fall of 2022. David Milligan, one of Refresh’s founders, is also the associate pastor at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Tustin. “Part of what I do is the music ministries,” he said, and “Patty [Hicks, the quartet’s cellist] began subbing in for me.” She soon became a regular, and her quartet arrived onto Refresh’s radar screen.
The individual members are all accomplished musicians with a host of credits themselves. “They’re all significant teachers in Orange County,” said Milligan, “and they’ve turned out hundreds of fine string players,” some of whom have gone on to impressive schools like Julliard. “They’re just phenomenal people,” he said.
Linda Owen, violin, is a founding member of the Pacific Symphony, former concertmaster of the Rio Hondo Symphony and was also a member of the Long Beach Symphony. Sandi Rynerson, violin, has been a member of the South Coast Symphony, Irvine Symphony and Irvine Chamber Players, and was on faculty at the prestigious Colburn School for over 40 years. Lisa Santana, viola, is currently principal viola with the Whittier Regional Symphony (formerly Rio Hondo Symphony) and plays with several other ensembles in southern California. Hicks has been a member of the South Coast and Chapman Symphony Orchestras and is on faculty at the National Cello Institute.
The quartet will perform Beethoven’s Quartet in F Major, Op. 59 No. 1, and Brahms’ Quartet in A Minor, Op. 51 No. 2.
Milligan’s passion for including music as a component in wellness is evident. He is proud to be offering the Santiago String Quartet’s music to the mountain community again. What he sees as that something special this Quartet has to offer: “that musicality that only comes with wisdom.”
Santiago String Quartet performs at Refresh On The Mountain, 536 S. Dart Canyon Rd, Crestline, Sunday April 14 at 3 p.m. Tickets are available via Eventbrite; a link may be found at refreshonthemountain.com. For more information: (909)-589-0953.
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