The Lark Quartet was a New York-based, all female

string quartet The term string quartet refers 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 Violin, violini ...

that operated from 1985 to 2019. It is acknowledged for its distinguished contribution to the string quartet repertoire, commissioning new works from some of America's most celebrated composers. Most notably,

Aaron Jay Kernis Aaron Jay Kernis (born January 15, 1960) is a Pulitzer Prize- and Grammy Award-winning American composer serving as a member of the Yale School of Music faculty. Kernis spent 15 years as the music advisor to the Minnesota Orchestra and as direct ...

' two string quartets: Quartet no. 1 Musica celestis and Quartet no. 2 Musica instrumentalis, which received the

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...

in 1998. The Lark Quartet served as Quartet-in-Residence at the

University of Massachusetts Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst) is a public land-grant research university in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Massachusetts system and was founded in 1863 as the ...

from 2004 to 2008 and has recorded numerous albums on multiple labels including Decca/Argo, Arabesque, Bridge, ERI, Endeavor and Koch.

Final roster of musicians

1st violin

Deborah Buck (born September 9, 1971, in

Mountain View, California Mountain View is a city in Santa Clara County, California, United States, part of the San Francisco Bay Area. Named for its views of the Santa Cruz Mountains, the population was 82,376 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Mountain V ...

) is an American violinist who has built a diverse musical career, appearing with artists like

Itzhak Perlman Itzhak Perlman (; born August 31, 1945) is an Israeli-American violinist. He has performed worldwide and throughout the United States, in venues that have included a state dinner for Elizabeth II at the White House in 2007, and at the First ina ...

and

Erykah Badu Erica Abi Wright (born February 26, 1971), known professionally as Erykah Badu, is an American singer and songwriter. Influenced by rhythm and blues, R&B, Soul music, soul, and hip hop, Badu rose to prominence in the late 1990s when her debut al ...

. Having served as the tenured concertmaster of the

Brooklyn Philharmonic There have been several organisations referred to as the Brooklyn Philharmonic. The most recent one was the now-defunct Brooklyn Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra, an American orchestra based in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, in existence f ...

since 2009, Deborah has recorded for Motion Picture, Television, and was the soloist in Turner Classics, The Scarlet Letter. Her recitals have been heard in broadcasts around the U.S., and she has been a soloist with orchestras including the Little Orchestra Society,

, and the

West Virginia Symphony Orchestra The West Virginia Symphony Orchestra is a professional orchestra that performs primarily at the Clay Center in Charleston, West Virginia. The orchestra performs over 50 concerts annually around the state of West Virginia, and has a nationally ...

. Deborah serves as assistant professor of violin at

SUNY Purchase The State University of New York at Purchase, commonly referred to as Purchase College or SUNY Purchase, is a Public college, public Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Purchase, New York. Established in 1967 by G ...

Conservatory of Music and serves as the co-executive director of th
Kinhaven Music School
Ms. Buck performs on a violin by Vincenzo Postiglione, graciously on loan by Ray and Marcia Corwin.

2nd violin

Basia Danilow (born January 23 in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, New York) is a diverse violinist who engages in chamber music, recording, orchestral and solo performances. She has appeared in recital at

Lincoln Center Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 ...

Weill Recital Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between 56th and 57th Streets. Designed by architect William Burnet Tuthill and built by its n ...

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhattan), 57t ...

Merkin Concert Hall Merkin Hall is a 449-seat concert hall in Manhattan, New York City. The hall, named in honor of Hermann and Ursula Merkin, is part of the Kaufman Music Center, a complex that includes the Lucy Moses School, a community arts school, and the Spec ...

and the

Kosciuszko Foundation The Kosciuszko Foundation is a charitable foundation based in New York City. It was created by Stephen Mizwa to fund programs that promote Polish-American intellectual and artistic exchange. History The Polish American Scholarship Committee ...

as well as in Yugoslavia and Russia. Basia is concertmaster of the

Princeton Symphony Orchestra The Princeton Symphony Orchestra (locally known as the PSO) is a professional U.S. orchestra based in Princeton, New Jersey. Rossen Milanov has been music director since 2009, leading the orchestra in critically acclaimed performances. All orches ...

, a regular with the Orchestra of St. Luke's and the

Metropolitan Opera Orchestra The Metropolitan Opera is an American opera company based in New York City, currently resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Referred to colloquially as the Met, the company i ...

. She has recorded for the Sony, Atlantic, RCA Victor Red Seal and Bridge labels and her radio and television broadcasts include WQXR, NPR's Performance Today,

Vermont Public Radio Vermont Public Co. is the public broadcaster serving the U.S. state of Vermont. Its headquarters, newsroom, and radio studios are located in Colchester, with television studios in Winooski. It operates two statewide radio services aligned wit ...

and PBS. Basia has appeared at the

Caramoor Summer Music 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 Ka ...

, Lincoln Center Festival, Central Vermont Chamber Music Festival, Windham, Music Festival of the Hamptons, the International Summer Institute at the Moscow Conservatory.

Viola

Kathryn Lockwood (born January 1, 1969, in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

) has built an international career as a chamber musician, soloist and teacher. A founding member of the

Pacifica Quartet The Pacifica Quartet is a professional string quartet based in Bloomington, Indiana. Its members are: Simin Ganatra, first violin; Austin Hartman, second violin; Mark Holloway, viola; and Brandon Vamos, cello. Formed in 1994 by Ganatra and Vamos ...

, Kathryn is currently the violist of duoJalal - an unusual viola and percussion duo with her husband Yousif Sheronick. She has performed regularly with the Camerata of St. John's, the Broyhill Chamber Ensemble, at the Elm City ChamberFest the Telluride ChamberFest. Kathryn is a faculty member at the

Montclair State University Montclair State University (MSU) is a public research university in Montclair, New Jersey, with parts of the campus extending into Clifton and into Little Falls. As of fall 2018, Montclair State was, by enrollment, the second largest public un ...

and is a regular guest teacher at her alma mater, the

Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University (formerly the Queensland Conservatorium of Music) is a selective, audition based music school located in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, and is part of Griffith University. History The Conservatori ...

. Ms Lockwood plays an unknown Italian viola from the 18th Century Brescian School.

Cello

Caroline Stinson (born April 20, 1975, in

Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

) is a Canadian soloist, recitalist and chamber musician for concerts of traditional and contemporary repertoire. Having appeared as a soloist at

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...

's Summergarden Series,

(Le) Poisson Rouge (Le) Poisson Rouge (often referred to as LPR) is a music venue and multimedia art cabaret in New York City founded in 2008 by Justin Kantor and David Handler on the former site of the Village Gate at 158 Bleecker Street. The performance space was ...

and

Bargemusic Bargemusic, formally known as ''Bargemusic, Ltd.'' is a classical music venue and cultural icon in Brooklyn. Founded in 1977, until 2025 it was housed in a converted coffee barge moored at Fulton Ferry Landing on the East River near the Brooklyn ...

in New York City; Cité de la musique Strasbourg and the

Lucerne Festival Lucerne Festival is one of the leading international festivals in the world of classical music and presents a series of classical music festivals based in Lucerne, Switzerland. Founded in 1938 by Ernest Ansermet and Walter Schulthess, it curr ...

in Europe, and the Centennial Centre and Winspear Halls in Canada. Her début CD, Lines, was released in 2011 on

Albany Records Albany Records is a record label that concentrates on unconventional contemporary classical music by American composers and musicians. It was established by Peter Kermani in 1987 and is based in Albany, New York. In May 2024, Albany Records wa ...

and she has over a dozen chamber music recordings to her credit. Ms. Stinson is a member of the new music and improvisation group, the Open End Ensemble, Co-Artistic Director of the Weekend of Chamber Music (based in the

Catskills The Catskill Mountains, also known as the Catskills, are a physiographic province and subrange of the larger Appalachian Mountains, located in southeastern New York. As a cultural and geographic region, the Catskills are generally defined a ...

and is on the faculty of the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a Private university, private performing arts music school, conservatory in New York City. Founded by Frank Damrosch as the Institute of Musical Art in 1905, the school later added dance and drama programs and became ...

. Caroline performs on a Thomas Dodd cello from 1800.

History and activities

Origins

:The four women who began the Lark String Quartet in 1985 were Kay Stern & Robin Mayforth on violin, Anna Kruger on viola and Laura Sewell on cello. Laura was the first to imagine the quartet into existence. She had just returned home upon graduating to live with her parents in

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

. Laura established a non for profit status and a board before she'd fully enlisted personnel but quickly set up a meeting with Anna Kruger in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

who introduced her to Kay and Robin. Soon after, Laura applied for a Self magazine "Fresh Start" competition geared towards women who were starting over with a new beginning in their life. She won and the magazine took on the whole quartet. SELF paid for the quartet's NEW YORK debut.

Lark About Town (LAT)

:A concert series that pairs private salon evenings with free concerts for families and underserved communities. The goal of the program is to provide an intimate and unpredictable live music experience. :The series has two principle incarnations: Outreach Concerts, which are free family concerts designed to bring live music to people of all ages, all communities, with a particular focus on underserved neighborhoods in the trial-state area AND the Salon Concert Series, which is house concerts in the New York Metropolitan area.

Commissioned works

William Bolcom William Elden Bolcom (born May 26, 1938) is an American composer and pianist. He has received the Pulitzer Prize, the National Medal of Arts, a Grammy Award, the Detroit Music Award and was named 2007 Composer of the Year by Musical America. He ...

: ''Billy in the Darbies'' with Stephen Salters, Baritone *

Jennifer Higdon Jennifer Elaine Higdon (born December 31, 1962) is an American composer of contemporary classical music. She has received many awards, including the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Music for her Violin Concerto and three Grammy Awards for Best Contemp ...

: ''Scenes from a Poet's Dream'' with

Gary Graffman Gary Graffman (born October 14, 1928) is an American classical pianist, teacher and administrator. Early life Graffman was born in New York City to Russian-Jewish parents. Having started piano at age 3, Graffman entered the Curtis Institute of ...

, Piano *

: String Quartet No. 2 ''Musica Instrumentalis'' (1997) Awarded the

Paul Moravec Paul Moravec (born November 2, 1957) is an American composer and a university professor at Adelphi University on Long Island, New York and also a member of the composition department of the Mannes School of Music. Already a prolific composer, he ...

: Piano Quintet with

Jeremy Denk Jeremy Denk (born May 16, 1970 in Durham, North Carolina) is an American classical pianist and author of the memoir ''Every Good Boy Does Fine: A Love Story, in Music Lessons'' (2022). Early life Denk did not come from a musical family. After s ...

, Piano *

Nico Muhly Nico Asher Muhly (; born August 26, 1981) is an American contemporary classical music composer and arranger who has worked and recorded with both classical and pop musicians. A prolific composer, he has composed for many notable symphony orchestra ...

: ''Big Time'' with Yousif Sheronick, Percussion *

Peter Schickele Peter Schickele (; July 17, 1935 – January 16, 2024) was an American composer, musical educator and parodist, best known for comedy albums featuring his music, which he presented as being composed by the fictional P. D. Q. Bach. He also hoste ...

: String Quartet No. 2 "In Memorium" *

Julia Wolfe Julia Wolfe (born December 18, 1958) is an American composer and professor of music at New York University. According to ''The Wall Street Journal'', Wolfe's music has "long inhabited a terrain of its own, a place where classical forms are rech ...

: String Quartet ''Early that summer'' (1993)

30th anniversary season

Lark presented a series of programs during the 2016-2017 season to celebrate their 30th Anniversary. They performed their favorite traditional repertoire together with new works commissioned for the anniversary. The final commission invited the original Larks (Laura, Anna, Robyn & Kay) to join the present Larks to play a string octet by

Andrew Waggoner Andrew Waggoner (born November 10, 1960) is an American composer and violinist. Biography Andrew Waggoner grew up in New Orleans, Minneapolis and Atlanta, and studied at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts, the Eastman School of Music and Co ...

. The first presented in October 2016 was a percussion quintet by

Kenji Bunch Kenji Bunch (born July 27, 1973) is an American composer and violist. Bunch currently serves as the artistic director oFear No Musicand teaches at Portland State University, Reed College, and for the Portland Youth Philharmonic. He is also the di ...

with Lark's longtime collaborator Yousif Sheronick, percussion.

Anna Weesner Anna Weesner (born 1965) is an American classical composer. Originally a flute student, educator, and performer, she later shifted towards composing in the 1990s. A 2009 Guggenheim Fellow, she has released two albums – ''Small and Mighty Force ...

is up next to write a clarinet quintet for the Lark Quartet and Todd Palmer. Two exciting string quartets by

Stephen Hartke Stephen Paul Hartke (born July 6, 1952) is an American composer. Hartke is best known as the composer of ''Meanwhile – Incidental Music to Imaginary Puppet Plays,'' winner of the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Classical Composition in 2013 ...

and

John Harbison John Harris Harbison (born December 20, 1938) is an American composer and academic. Life John Harris Harbison was born on December 20, 1938, in Orange, New Jersey, to the historian Elmore Harris Harbison and Janet German Harbison. The Harbisons ...

round out the commissions.

Recordings

The Lark Quartet has recorded numerous albums in their 30-year history. These include some of the most significant works of the 20th century for string quartet. Lark has recorded for the Decca/Argo, Arabesque, Bridge, ERI, Endeavor, Koch, Point and New World labels. Recordings include: * Alexander Borodin - String Quartets Nos 1 & 2, Arabesque Records, * Schoenberg & Zemlinsky - Schoenberg: String Quartet In D Minor, Opus 7, Zemlinsky: String Quartet No. 4, Opus 25 * Robert Schumann - Quartet In A Minor, Op. 41, No. 1, Quartet In A Major, Op. 41, No. 3 * Alfred Schnittke - String Quartets Nos. 2 & 3, Piano Quintet * Peter Schickele - On a Lark: Sextet, Quintet No. 2 for Piano and Strings (with Robert Rinehart - viola, Julia Lichten - cello, Peter Schickele - piano) * Aaron Jay Kernis - Quartet Nos. 1 & 2 * Amy Beach - Sonata for violin & piano in A minor, Op. 34, String Quartet (in one movement; originally Op. 79), Op. 89, Piano Trio, Op. 150 (with Joanne Polk - piano) * Klap Ur Handz - Peter Schikele: String Quartet No. 2; Paul Moravec: Atmosfera a Villa Aurelia, Vince & Jan: 1945; George Gershwin: Five Songs; Daniel Bernard Roumain DBR: String Quartet No. 5, Klap Ur Handz REMIX (with Yousif Sheronick - percussion) * Jennifer Higdon, An Exaltation of Larks - Scenes from the Poetâs Dreams, Light Refracted, An Exaltation of Larks (with Gary Graffman - piano, Blair McMillen - piano, Todd Palmer - clarinet) * Composing America - John Adams: from the Book of Alleged Dances (arr. Yousif Sheronick); Copland: Two Pieces; William Bolcom: Billy in the Darbies; Paul Moravec: Piano Quintet (with Jeremy Denk - piano, Stephen Salters - baritone, Yousif Sheronick - percussion) * Works For String Quartet And Orchestra - Handel, Schoenberg, Spohr, Elgar (with Jean-Louis LeRoux - conductor, San Francisco Ballet Orchestra) * Julia Wolfe - Early That Summer Lark Quartet Albums on iTune

Awards

* 1997: Pulitzer Prize for Quartet no. 1 Musica celestis; Quartet no. 2 Musica instrumentalis by

* 2004-08: Quartet-in-Residence at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst

Resources

*Hill, Brad (2006) American Popular Music: Classical, Library of Congress,

References

External links

Lark Quartet Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lark Quartet Musical groups established in 1985 American string quartets 1985 establishments in New York (state)