Meet the Quartet
The Gainesville String Quartet specializes in providing live music for your wedding ceremony and cocktail hour. Our members have extensive wedding and chamber music experience with over twenty years of musical training. When you contact The Gainesville String Quartet, whether by phone or email, you will be working directly with its founding members.
Kristin McDougal
Kristin began playing cello at 9 years of age when she was exposed to instrumental music through her elementary school magnet program. She went on to attend Miami’s prestigious New World School of the Arts High School where her musicianship skills were further developed and fostered in a creative environment. In 2006, she continued her music education at the University of Florida and performed with the University of Florida Symphony Orchestra, Cellorando, and Tetra String Quartet, later graduating in 2010 as a Nursing major with a minor in Music Performance. Kristin currently works at UF Health as a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner but continues to play as a cellist in several professional groups around North Florida, including
our very own, the Gainesville Orchestra.
Jeremiah Gadway
Jeremiah is a performing orchestral musician in Gainesville, FL. He received his Bachelor in Music Performance for Viola from the University of Florida where he was a recipient of the Dorothy Reaves String Scholarship and the Blount Scholarship. During his time at UF, he served as principle violist of the UF Symphony Orchestra. He also received a Master of Science degree in Management. After graduation he started working in the fitness industry and is currently a Fitness Counselor at Gainesville Health and Fitness where he inspires people to make fitness a permanent part of their life. While maintaining a full time job at the health club, he still performs as a violist for two professional orchestras in the Central Florida area, the Gainesville Orchestra and the Ocala Symphony Orchestra.
Merissa Amkraut
Merissa is a graduate from the University of Miami with a Bachelor’s degree in Music Education and Violin Performance and a Masters degree from Florida International University. After teaching middle school for four years in Miami, Merissa moved to Gainesville to finish her Ph.D at the University of Florida. Merissa was concertmaster of the Hollywood Philharmonic and has played with the Miami Symphony, the Ocala Symphony and is a violinist with the Gainesville Orchestra. Although she is classically trained, she has played many different styles and was a violinist for recording artist Kanye West. A native of Central Florida, Merissa worked at Epcot Center performing in the world renowned performing group, Rondo Veneziano. Merissa currently teaches violin and piano in Gainesville and is a member of the Federation of Music Clubs.
Mayra Kucera
Mayra is a South Florida native who began her music studies playing
violin and piano at age five. At Azusa Pacific University in Los Angeles, she was a violin performance major and toured with the APU orchestra and choir as a violinist and vocalist on the Pacific West Coast. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music Business and Vocal Performance from Florida International University in Miami. Mayra is a registered Suzuki Violin teacher and taught in her Miami studio for five years. She was an active performing violinist and vocalist in the South Florida community before becoming a Gainesville resident in 2012. Mayra has been teaching locally for the past five years both Suzuki violin and piano students. Since relocating to Gainesville she has been a member of the Gainesville Orchestra and continues to work as a performing artist in the North and Central Florida communities.
