Skyros Quartet , In a DMA Recital October 14 | 5:00 p.m. · Kimball Recital Hall
Skyros Quartet
The Skyros Quartet, praised by the Topeka Capital-Journal as “rising young stars” and “stellar,” brings a bright and inventive style to the concert hall. Currently the Graduate Quartet-in-Residence at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, the quartet members are pursing Doctorates in Chamber Music Performance under the guidance of the Chiara String Quartet.
Founded in 2010, Skyros received Masters in Chamber Music Performance from the University of Texas at Austin Sarah and Ernest Butler School of Music, mentored by the Miro Quartet and Sandy Yamamoto.
This June, the quartet spent time in Ontario, Canada, where they were guest artists at QuartetFest 2014 at the Sir Wilfrid Laurier University (Waterloo, Ontario) and collaborated with composer Stephanie Martin for a performance at the Sound in the Land conference held at the University of Waterloo. The quartet recently returned from a tour of China, performing in Xi’an and Hangzhou as part of an official delegation from the University of Nebraska system. Skyros. They also toured the Pacific Northwest, with funding from a Hixson-Lied Student Presentation of Scholarly/Creative Activity Grant. In addition, they appeared at the Deer Valley Music Festival Emerging Quartets and Composers Program with the Muir Quartet and Joan Tower in Park City, Utah.
The Skyros Quartet has concertized extensively in the Austin and Lincoln areas, as well as travelling to perform around the globe. The quartet appeared as finalists at the Coleman Chamber Music Competition (Pasadena, California) in 2013 and the Arriaga Chamber Music Competition (Stamford, CT) in 2014. They recently performed the Mendelssohn Octet alongside the Chiara String Quartet on the Hixson-Lied Concert Series (Lincoln, NE). They have also performed for the Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber Music Society (Ontario, Canada), the Sunflower Music Festival (Topeka, Kansas, the Meadowlark Music Festival (Lincoln, Nebraska), and the Kaleidoscope Concert Series (Austin, Texas). Skyros made up the core string section of the UT New Music Ensemble under the direction of Dan Welcher for its 2011-2012 season.
Strongly committed to education, Skyros instructs music in many capacities. They are currently Graduate Teaching Assistants at UNL in music theory, chamber music, teaching artist clas, and outreach. In Austin, they taught as faculty for the UT String Project. The quartet also coached and led masterclasses for CHAMPS (Chamber Music in Public Schools), an Austin non-profit that provides free weekly coachings in public schools. Skyros leads community engagement programs, enabling them to inspire audiences of all ages and musical backgrounds. In the past two years, the quartet has actively engaged and interacted with hundreds of students in the Lincoln Public School system, and presented an interactive family concert experience at the Matt Talbot Kitchen and Outreach.
The Skyros Quartet is currently recording their first album with partial funding provided by a Hixson-Lied Student Presentation of Scholarly/Creative Activity Grant.
The Skyros Quartet takes its name from the Greek isle of Skyros, one of a quartet of islands in the Sporades of the Aegean Sea.