Shepherd Careers Forum ’07

The Chiara Quartet is forging a new path for the string quartet medium. In the concert hall and in more intimate galleries and clubs, the Chiara transforms the audience experience from mere listening to active engagement with the music. The group presents thrilling contemporary works—through their club tours and New Voice Singles recordings—to a growing circle of newcomers and committed chamber music fans alike, while exploring more established repertoire with fresh ears. Praised for a "marvelously dramatic," "no-holds-barred" approach (Philadelphia Inquirer; The Strad) paired with a "warm, integrated sound" (New York Times), they are known as four unique and strong voices that combine into a powerful whole. The Chiara Quartet is essential listening.

Conversations with the Chiara Quartet

Chiara Quartet Conversations

Encouraging Meaninful Careers
Finding Your Mission in Music
Creating a Mission Statement
Surviving the First Years

The Quartet's busy concert schedule has taken them to Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall, Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall, the American Academy in Rome, Philadelphia's Kimmel Center, and Harris Hall in Aspen, Colorado. They have premiered award-winning works by Gabriela Lena Frank, Jefferson Friedman, and Nico Muhly, among others, and have released world premiere recordings of new masterworks on their New Voice Singles label, including Robert Sirota's Triptych and Gabriela Lena Frank's Leyendas: An Andean Walkabout. Recent collaborators include Dawn Upshaw, Arnaldo Cohen, Simone Dinnerstein, Norman Fischer, Paul Katz, and James Tocco, as well as members of the Orion, Ying, Cavani, and Pacifica Quartets. In addition, they have special projects with jazz bassist Benjamin Wolfe, choreographer Brian Reeder, and clarinetist Håkan Rosengren, with whom they have recorded the Mozart and Brahms Quintets for Round Top Records.

Chiara String Quartet
Photo: Anthony Hawley