Biography
The Aeolus Quartet ranks among America's foremost string ensembles, weaving extensive educational outreach into its core mission while regularly advocating for new music, above all pieces by American composers. Cellist Alan Richardson assembled the ensemble in 2008 at the Cleveland Institute of Music, selecting a name drawn from the wind-controlling deity whom Odysseus meets in Homer's Odyssey. Its present lineup features violinists Nicholas Taviani and Rachel Shapiro, violist Caitlin Lynch, and cellist Jia Kim, with violist Gregory Luce among those who have previously belonged. All members hold degrees from the Juilliard School, the Cleveland Institute of Music, the University of Maryland, and the University of Texas at Austin. Their training included work with the Juilliard, Guarneri, and Miró Quartets plus such noted musicians as violinists Itzhak Perlman and Donald Weilerstein.
Competition successes encompass first prize at the Coleman International Chamber Ensemble Competition together with grand prizes from both the Plowman Chamber Music Competition and the Chamber Music Yellow Springs Competition. The quartet's first recording, Aeolus Quartet Performs Brahms & Bartók, appeared in 2010 on Longhorn Music. Between 2013 and 2015 it held the position of Graduate Resident String Quartet at the Juilliard School. Performances have carried the group across North America, Europe, and Asia, with appearances at Alice Tully Hall in New York, the church of St. Martin-in-the-Fields in London, and the Shanghai Oriental Arts Center; it also figured in the streaming series The Defenders.
Contemporary American repertoire forms a central thread in its programming, reflected in joint projects with composers John Corigliano, Keeril Makan, and Missy Mazzoli as well as stage collaborations with Spectrum Dance Theater and the Mark Morris Dance Group. Several releases on the Azica label fall under the quartet's Many-Sided Music initiative, among them the 2021 album Ariel and Other Poems. Educational projects range from concerts presented throughout Texas via the Rural Chamber Music Outreach Initiative to faculty appointments at the Interlochen Center for the Arts, the Austin Chamber Music Workshop, and Stanford University's Education Program for Gifted Youth; these activities have earned the ensemble multiple awards.
Competition successes encompass first prize at the Coleman International Chamber Ensemble Competition together with grand prizes from both the Plowman Chamber Music Competition and the Chamber Music Yellow Springs Competition. The quartet's first recording, Aeolus Quartet Performs Brahms & Bartók, appeared in 2010 on Longhorn Music. Between 2013 and 2015 it held the position of Graduate Resident String Quartet at the Juilliard School. Performances have carried the group across North America, Europe, and Asia, with appearances at Alice Tully Hall in New York, the church of St. Martin-in-the-Fields in London, and the Shanghai Oriental Arts Center; it also figured in the streaming series The Defenders.
Contemporary American repertoire forms a central thread in its programming, reflected in joint projects with composers John Corigliano, Keeril Makan, and Missy Mazzoli as well as stage collaborations with Spectrum Dance Theater and the Mark Morris Dance Group. Several releases on the Azica label fall under the quartet's Many-Sided Music initiative, among them the 2021 album Ariel and Other Poems. Educational projects range from concerts presented throughout Texas via the Rural Chamber Music Outreach Initiative to faculty appointments at the Interlochen Center for the Arts, the Austin Chamber Music Workshop, and Stanford University's Education Program for Gifted Youth; these activities have earned the ensemble multiple awards.
Albums
