Biography
Chicago serves as the home base for the Avalon String Quartet, whose performances have reached audiences throughout the United States and in European locations at prominent halls and events. In their capacity as quartet-in-residence at Northern Illinois University, the ensemble maintains an extensive record of teaching-related achievements.
Only one of the four musicians hails from the United States: violist Anthony Devroye. The others consist of French violinist Blaise Magniere, Canadian violinist Marie Wang, and Taiwanese cellist Cheng-Hou Lee. Their formation occurred during the 1995 Norfolk Chamber Music Festival in Connecticut. Recognition came from violinist Isaac Stern following their involvement in his 1997 chamber music workshop at Carnegie Hall. Consequently, they received opportunities to appear in his Chamber Music Encounters series in Jerusalem as well as at Weill Recital Hall in New York. Additional instruction arrived via the Juilliard Quartet in New York, the Emerson Quartet at the Hartt School of Music in Hartford, Connecticut, and the Vermeer Quartet at Northern Illinois University, where the Avalon later assumed the resident position previously held by the Vermeer group. In 2000, they captured the first prize at the ARD Competition in Munich. Also in that year, Channel Classics released their debut recording, the album Dawn to Dusk.
Venues in New York, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, London's Wigmore Hall, and Munich's Herculessaal have hosted their concerts. Festival engagements encompass the La Jolla Chamber Music Festival, the Bath International Music Festival, and Britain's Aldeburgh Festival. Within the Chicago region, they maintain a recurring series at the Art Institute of Chicago and have taken part in the suburban Ravinia Festival. Further recordings appear on the Albany, Cedille, and Naxos labels; the last of these issued their 2018 album featuring quartets by Matthew Quayle. Cedille presented their 2021 release Leo Sowerby: The Paul Whiteman Commissions and Other Early Works, followed in 2024 by a Naxos album containing quartets from Sowerby and Florence Beatrice Price.
Only one of the four musicians hails from the United States: violist Anthony Devroye. The others consist of French violinist Blaise Magniere, Canadian violinist Marie Wang, and Taiwanese cellist Cheng-Hou Lee. Their formation occurred during the 1995 Norfolk Chamber Music Festival in Connecticut. Recognition came from violinist Isaac Stern following their involvement in his 1997 chamber music workshop at Carnegie Hall. Consequently, they received opportunities to appear in his Chamber Music Encounters series in Jerusalem as well as at Weill Recital Hall in New York. Additional instruction arrived via the Juilliard Quartet in New York, the Emerson Quartet at the Hartt School of Music in Hartford, Connecticut, and the Vermeer Quartet at Northern Illinois University, where the Avalon later assumed the resident position previously held by the Vermeer group. In 2000, they captured the first prize at the ARD Competition in Munich. Also in that year, Channel Classics released their debut recording, the album Dawn to Dusk.
Venues in New York, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, London's Wigmore Hall, and Munich's Herculessaal have hosted their concerts. Festival engagements encompass the La Jolla Chamber Music Festival, the Bath International Music Festival, and Britain's Aldeburgh Festival. Within the Chicago region, they maintain a recurring series at the Art Institute of Chicago and have taken part in the suburban Ravinia Festival. Further recordings appear on the Albany, Cedille, and Naxos labels; the last of these issued their 2018 album featuring quartets by Matthew Quayle. Cedille presented their 2021 release Leo Sowerby: The Paul Whiteman Commissions and Other Early Works, followed in 2024 by a Naxos album containing quartets from Sowerby and Florence Beatrice Price.
Albums
