Enso Quartet

The Enso String Quartet is a US-based string quartet. They have won a number of competitions including the 2003 Concert Artists Guild, 2004 Banff International String Quartet Competition and Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition. Formed in 1999, they have released two CDs on the Naxos Records label.

Members

* Maureen Nelson, violin
* John Marcus, violin
* Melissa Reardon,viola
* Richard Belcher, cello Richard Belcher is a native of New Zealand.

Biography

It was "standing room only", wrote the "Pittsburgh Post-Gazette" of a performance by the Enso String Quartet. "The Press" of New Zealand declared the ensemble "a youthful, prodigiously talented international foursome." Also commenting on the dynamism of the group, the "Ann Arbor News" declared their playing "crisp, incisive...with just the right quotient of sass." "The Strad" applauded them for their "lyricism, style and expression as well as sophistication". In addition to audience appreciation and the critical acclaim, the Enso String Quartet has earned its place in the ensemble world with multiple honors at the 2004 Banff International String Quartet Competition, including the "Piece de concert prize" for the Quartet's riveting performance of a new work, and claimed victories at the 2003 Concert Artists Guild International Competition, the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition and the Chamber Music Yellow Springs Competition.

Engagements for the Enso String Quartet in the 2006 - 07 season include the Library of Congress, Da Camera of Houston, the Dame Myra Hess series and the Ravinia Festival’s Rising Stars series. The quartet also looks forward to a return engagement with Robert Kapilow on his "What Makes it Great" series at Lincoln Center. Previous seasons have brought the ensemble coast to coast for performances at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, the Chautauqua Institution, the Kennedy Center, the Phillips Collection, the Krannert Center, and La Jolla SummerFest and overseas for concerts in Panama, Costa Rica, Canada, England, France, Australia and New Zealand.

The ensemble’s 2005 debut on Naxos Records, a 2-CD set of Ignaz Pleyel’s six string quartets, Op. 2, has garnered rave reviews. "The Strad" called the disc “an auspicious start to the Enso String Quartet’s recording career,” "Gramophone" hailed their playing as “lively and intelligent”, and "Fanfare Magazine" praised the ensemble for its "extraordinary talent...exceptional sense of vitality and elegance.” Upcoming projects with Naxos Records are the piano quintets of Ernst von Dohnányi and the three string quartets of Alberto Ginastera.

The ensemble was appointed Quartet-in-Residence at the summer 2006 Boston University Tanglewood Institute and is resident with the Houston-based new music organization Musiqa. Since 2004, the quartet’s members have been Lecturers at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music working closely with the Composition Department in the creation, recording and premiere performances of new works. The Enso String Quartet is committed to nurturing new generations of musicians and enjoys ongoing residencies with Young Audiences of New York and Houston, Connecticut’s Music For Youth and in education programs presented by the Houston Friends of Music and Da Camera of Houston.

The Enso String Quartet members hold degrees from The Juilliard School, Curtis Institute of Music, New England Conservatory, Guildhall School of Music (UK) and the University of Canterbury (New Zealand). The ensemble formed in 1999 and while students at Yale University and completed graduate residencies at Northern Illinois University with the Vermeer Quartet and at the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University. The quartet has been featured in the American Ensembles column of "Chamber Music" magazine and their performances have been broadcast live on PBS, Chicago’s WFMT, Wisconsin Public Radio, Minnesota Public Radio, Houston’s KUHF, Australia’s ABC Classic FM, Radio New Zealand and Canada’s CBC radio.

"The ensemble’s name, enso, is derived from the Japanese zen painting of the circle which represents many things; perfection and imperfection, the moment of chaos that is creation, the emptiness of the void, the endless circle of life, and the fullness of the spirit."

External links

* [http://www.ensoquartet.com/ The Enso String Quartet] (official website)
* http://www.myspace.com/ensoquartet