biava quartet

The Biava Quartet is recognized as one of today’s most exciting and accomplished young American string quartets. Winner of the Naumburg Chamber Music Award and top prizes at the Premio Borciani and London International Competitions, the Quartet has established an enthusiastic following in the United States and abroad, impressing audiences with its sensitive artistry and communicative powers. Formed in 1998 at the Cleveland Institute of Music, the Quartet takes its name from Maestro Luis Biava, a mentor since its inception.

The members of the Biava Quartet are violinists Austin Hartman and Hyunsu Ko, violist Mary Persin, and cellist Gwendolyn Krosnick. The Quartet most recently held the Lisa Arnhold Quartet Residency at the Juilliard School, serving as graduate quartet in residence and teaching assistants to the Juilliard Quartet. The Quartet served in the same position with the Tokyo Quartet at Yale University and was the first ensemble to complete the Training Program in the Art of the String Quartet at the New England Conservatory under the direction of Paul Katz.

The Biava Quartet has performed to acclaim in important venues throughout North America, Europe, and Asia, including Alice Tully Hall, Carnegie Hall, the Library of Congress, the Kennedy Center, Wigmore Hall, and the Baroque Art Hall in Seoul. Other highlights from recent seasons include appearances at the Mostly Mozart, Rockport, Kingston and Aspen Music Festivals, Chautauqua Institution, and Pacific Music Festival in Japan.

In addition to its performance of the classical repertoire, the Biava Quartet is dedicated to the creation and performance of contemporary works. The Quartet has championed the music of American composers Mason Bates, William Bolcom, Kenji Bunch, John Harbison, Ezra Laderman, Kevin Puts, and Stacy Garrop, whose Third String Quartet will be performed and recorded this season. As ensemble in residence with the Pittsburgh Chamber Music Society in 2008-2009, the Quartet premiered two new works by David Stock and Albert Glinsky. The Biava Quartet is equally devoted to adventurous collaborations, including a debut at Jazz at Lincoln Center featuring the music of the late John Lewis of the Modern Jazz Quartet. The Quartet has also appeared in a dramatization of the life of Emily Dickinson set to the music of Amy Beach with Ensemble for the Romantic Century, as well as the inaugural concerts in Washington, D.C. of Pro Musica Hebraica, a new organization founded for the dissemination of Jewish art music.

The Biava Quartet is committed to educating and inspiring audiences of all ages and is frequently invited to give masterclasses and lead community and educational programs at schools and conservatories around the country. This past summer, the Biava Quartet served as the first quartet-in-residence of the Brevard Music Center and has also served as ensemble in residence and faculty members at the Great Lakes, Madeline Island, Methow Valley and San Diego Chamber Music Festivals, Indiana University Summer String Academy, the Innsbrook, David Einfeldt, and Heifetz International Music Institutes, and the Luzerne Music Center. As recipients of a 2006 Chamber Music America grant in collaboration with the Hill and Hollow Chamber Music Series, the members of the Quartet have invested in the growth of the arts in communities.

The Biava Quartet has recorded for the Naxos and Cedille labels and has been heard on London's BBC Radio 3, NPR, American Public Media's Performance Today, as well as in frequent national broadcasts. The Quartet has been featured in Strings and Strad magazines and has been the subject of a PBS documentary film.

The members of the Biava Quartet hold advanced degrees from the Cleveland Institute of Music, New England Conservatory, Oberlin College and Conservatory, Yale University, and the Juilliard School.

The Biava Quartet joined the Astral Artists roster as a winner of its 2009 National Auditions. To learn more about the Quartet, please visit www.biavaquartet.com

August, 2009. Please destroy all prior materials.