The Artaria String Quartet (originally the Artaria Quartet of Boston) is an American

string quartet The term string quartet can refer to either a type of musical composition or a group of four people who play them. Many composers from the mid-18th century onwards wrote string quartets. The associated musical ensemble consists of two violinists ...

based in Minnesota and now in residence at Sundin Music Hall on the campus of Hamline University. Previously the Quartet was in residence at Viterbo University and Boston College. Originally formed in Boston, the quartet was mentored by members of the legendary Budapest, La Salle, Kolisch, and Juilliard quartets. Artaria centers on string quartet performance and education. It is committed to presenting inspiring live performances, to mentoring string players of all ages, and to illuminating the world's great repertoire of chamber music to a broad audience. .

Members

*Ray Shows,

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

*Nancy Oliveros,

*Annalee Wolf,

viola The viola ( , also , ) is a string instrument that is bow (music), bowed, plucked, or played with varying techniques. Slightly larger than a violin, it has a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of ...

*Patricia Ryan,

cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a Bow (music), bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), t ...

History of Artaria

The Artaria Quartet of Boston was formed at Boston University in 1986 by

Raphael Hillyer Raphael Hillyer (April 10, 1914 – December 27, 2010) was a Jewish American viola soloist, teacher. Born Raphael Silverman in Ithaca, New York, his career included playing in the Boston Symphony Orchestra and co-founding the Juilliard String ...

and mentored by

Eugene Lehner Eugene Lehner (1906 – 13 September 1997) was a violist and music educator. Lehner, as he preferred to be addressed, was born in the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1906. Originally named Jenö Léner, he performed as a self-taught violinist from th ...

. Lehner was their primary teacher and actually named the ensemble. The group was also coached by the uir String Quartetat BU. In 1988 Artaria was invited to teach at the quartet seminar (directed by Norman Fischer) at the Boston University

Tanglewood Tanglewood is a music venue in the towns of Lenox and Stockbridge in the Berkshire Hills of western Massachusetts. It has been the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra since 1937. Tanglewood is also home to three music schools: the T ...

Institute in the Berkshires. In 1990 they were prizewinners in the Alliance Auditions. They were also Artist Diploma students at the

Longy School of Music Longy School of Music of Bard College is a private music school in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1915 as the Longy School of Music, it was one of the four independent degree-granting music schools in the Boston region along with the New E ...

in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In 1992, the AQB competed in the Banff International String Quartet Competition along with the St. Lawrence, Ying, Mandelring, Amati, Miami, Amernet, Harrington and Italian quartets. That same year, on the recommendation of Marcia Ferritto, they were invited to Washington DC to audition for the National Endowments newly created Rural Residency program and were hosted by the Tifton, Georgia Arts Council for the 1992–93 season. The following year they were invited to join the faculty of Boston College and Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wisconsin where they performed, coached, taught classes and at Viterbo, created a successful New Music Festival. These residency appointments ended in 1997. In 1999 and 2000 the ASQ was again invited to teach and perform at the Tanglewood Institute. In 2001 the quartet relocated to the Twin Cities (changing its name to Artaria String Quartet) where they present an annual concert series at Sundin Music Hall and mentor young string players in the Artaria Chamber Music School. In 2004 they won a prestigious McKnight Award for Performing Artists performing music by Schubert, Shostakovich and Syler. Artaria continues to concertize across the region at public and private venues, on the radio and on public television. The quartet also directs the Stringwood Summer Music Festival in Lanesboro, Minnesota. The group has commissioned many works for string quartet by composers Marjorie Merryman, Auguste Read Thomas, Tom Oboe Lee, David Cleary, and James Syler. Their current major project is performing and recording the complete quartets of Dmitri Shostakovich. Their Shostakovich cycle is a premiere for the Twin Cities.

Awards and recognition

*Finalists 1992 Banff International String Quartet Competition *1992

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal ...

Rural Residency Grant *2004 McKnight Award for Performing Artists *2010 Featured American Ensemble, CMA Magazine Summer 2010 *2011

Chamber Music America Chamber Music America (CMA) is an American non-profit organization that provides small ensemble professionals with access to a variety of professional development, networking, and funding resources. CMA's regular initiatives include grants, awards, ...

Residency Initiative Grant

Emphasis on Chamber Music Education

The Artaria String Quartet has devoted its career to educating the next generation of chamber music performers and listeners. Their Chamber Music Schoo
ACMS
features a comprehensive chamber music program of mentoring and performance with many of its young artists reaching national competitions and in 2011 being invited to perform at the

Caramoor Festival The Caramoor Summer Music Festival is a music festival founded in 1945 that is held on the estate of the Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts, which includes a Mediterranean-style stucco villa and is located about north of New York City in Kat ...

on From the Top. Their summer chamber music progra
Stringwood
founded in 2000 attracts talented high school students from across the country to study chamber music with Artaria.

Discography

The Artaria String Quartet has released five albums through their self-produced Aequbis Recordings, and one album of the String Quartets of David Cleary.

References