Stringing Together 

Orchestra Offshoot Strikes the Right Chord for Four Islanders 

BY CHRISTY CARLEY ‍

PHOTO BY DINAH SATTERWHITE 

The story of Tom Monk’s passion for the violin began on an elementary school playground in the Golden State—but not with dulcet tones wafting through the California breeze. 

“I was in my third elementary school in third grade, and I was really unhappy,” Monk said, explaining that he was struggling at his new school after yet another move. He was getting into fights on the playground and, on one fateful day, remembers getting beaten up by a fourth grade girl. 

“The principal came and grabbed me by the ear and pulled me into his office,” Monk recalled. Figuring he was just bored, the school head made Monk an offer. California had funding for every kid to learn an instrument or to sing in a choir and there was an extra violin sitting unused in the closet. The principal asked if Monk would like to try it. 

Monk has played the violin ever since. Now retired after a long career as a pediatrician on the island, he is a member of the Bainbridge Island String Quartet. 

The Quartet began as an offshoot of the Bainbridge Symphony Orchestra. Members have come and gone through the years, but violist Kathy Connelly has been there since the beginning. An avid knitter and the first employee of Churchmouse Yarns, Connelly was introduced to music at a young age. Through a robust strings program at the public schools in Aberdeen, Washington, Connelly learned to play violin and viola. 

Marian Silberstein, who joined the group around the time of the COVID pandemic, is a retired engineer-turned-patent agent and plays violin along with Monk. Faun Tiedge, the quartet’s cellist, moved to the island a little over two years ago after a career as a professor, most recently at Linfield College, where she chaired the music department. 

The Quartet plays sets covering a range of styles— recently incorporating some Latin tunes—and has performed in a variety of settings, including weddings, holiday parties, assisted living facilities and at The Marketplace in Lynwood Center. While all four musicians also play in the Bainbridge Symphony Orchestra, the Quartet allows them a little extra creative liberty and individual expression. 

While the make-up of the quartet—a pediatrician, a knitter, an engineer and a professor—may sound like the beginning of a bar joke, Tiedge said that it is the mélange of backgrounds that brings life to the ensemble. 

“As a musician I’ve always found that some of the most outstanding players have engaged in careers outside of music,” she said. “When they get together, the energy for making music is fantastic.”