The Biava Quartet Concludes Its Second and Final Year as Juilliard's Graduate Resident Quartet with 16th Annual Lisa Arnhold Memorial Recital Performance on Monday, May 4 at 8 PM in Alice Tully Hall

Program Includes String Quartets by Haydn, Ginastera, and Grieg

The Biava Quartet concludes its second and final year as Juilliard's graduate resident quartet with a performance in the 16^th annual Lisa Arnhold Memorial Recital on Monday, May 4 at 8 PM in Alice Tully Hall. The Biava Quartet (members, violinists Austin Hartman and Hyunsu Ko, violist Mary Persin, and cellist Jason Calloway) perform Haydn's Quartet for Strings in E-flat Major, Op. 33, No. 2 (Joke); Ginastera's Quartet No. 1, Op. 20 (1948); and Grieg's String Quartet in G Minor, Op. 27. Created during the 1991-92 season, the Arnhold Concerts have presented several outstanding young American quartets to New York audiences, among them the Avalon, Calder, Chiara, Miró, and St. Lawrence string quartets.

This spring season is busy for the Biava Quartet with upcoming appearances that include a collaboration with Jazz at Lincoln Center on May 23 in the Allen Room; the premiere of American composer Albert Glinsky's new string quartet (commissioned by the Pittsburgh Chamber Music Society for the Biava Quartet) on May 30; and a two-week residency at the Fayetteville (TX) Chamber Music Festival, where the Quartet will perform the works of Swedish composers Franz Berwald and Bernhard Henrik Crusell for strings and clarinet, in collaboration with festival artistic director Håkan Rosengren.

This summer the Biava Quartet will be quartet-in-residence at the Brevard Music Center and at the Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival and the Madeline Island Music Camp. The Quartet returns to the Indiana University Summer String Academy and the David Einfeldt Chamber Music Seminar at the Hartt School. They also return to the Rockport Chamber Music Festival.

The Biava Quartet is recognized as one of today's most exciting young American string quartets.  Winner of the Naumburg Chamber Music Award and top prizes at the Premio Borciani and London International Competitions, the Quartet has established an enthusiastic following in the United States and abroad, impressing audiences with its sensitive artistry and communicative powers. Formed in 1998 at the Cleveland Institute of Music, the Quartet takes its name from Maestro Luis Biava, a mentor since its inception.

The members of the Biava Quartet, violinists Austin Hartman and Hyunsu Ko, violist Mary Persin, and cellist Jason Calloway, hold the Lisa Arnhold Fellowships at The Juilliard School, serving as the graduate resident quartet and teaching assistants to the Juilliard String Quartet. The Biava Quartet previously held the same position with the Tokyo Quartet at Yale University and was the first ensemble to complete the training program in the art of the string quartet at the New England Conservatory under the direction of Paul Katz.

The Biava Quartet has performed in venues throughout North America, Europe, and Asia, including Alice Tully Hall, Carnegie Hall, the Library of Congress, the Kennedy Center, Wigmore Hall, and the Baroque Art Hall in Seoul. Other highlights from recent seasons include appearances at the Mostly Mozart and Aspen Music Festivals, Chautauqua Institution, and Pacific Music Festival in Japan.

In addition to its performance of the classical repertoire, the Biava Quartet also dedicates much of its efforts to the creation and performance of contemporary works. The Quartet has championed the music of American composers Mason Bates, William Bolcom, John Harbison, Ezra Laderman, and Stacy Garrop, whose Second String Quartet it has premiered and recorded. As ensemble in residence at the Pittsburgh Chamber Music Society this season, the Biava Quartet is involved in an ambitious commissioning project which will yield four new works written expressly for the ensemble. The Quartet is equally devoted to interdisciplinary work, including a dramatization of the life of Emily Dickinson set to the music of Amy Beach with Ensemble for the Romantic Century, as well as the inaugural concerts in Washington, D.C. of Pro Musica Hebraica, a new organization founded for the dissemination of Jewish art music.

The Biava Quartet is committed to educating and inspiring audiences of all ages and is frequently invited to give master classes and lead community and educational programs at schools and conservatories around the country. The Quartet has served as ensemble in residence and faculty members at the Indiana University Summer String Academy, the Innsbrook Institute, San Diego Chamber Music Festival, the David Einfeldt Chamber Music Institute, the Heifetz International Music Institute, and the Luzerne Music Center. As recipients of a 2006 Chamber Music America grant in collaboration with the Hill and Hollow Chamber Music Series, the members of the Quartet have invested in the growth of the arts in communities.

The Biava Quartet has recorded for the Naxos and Cedille labels and has been heard on London's BBC Radio 3 and NPR, as well as in frequent national broadcasts. The Quartet has been featured in Strings and Strad magazines and is the subject of an upcoming PBS documentary film.

The members of the Biava Quartet hold advanced degrees from the New England Conservatory, University of Southern California, Yale University, and The Juilliard School.

The Lisa Arnhold Memorial Concert series is presented annually by Juilliard's graduate resident quartet through the generosity of the Arnhold family. The members of the quartet, named Lisa Arnhold Fellows, receive free tuition and a stipend, as well as regular ensemble coachings with the Juilliard String Quartet; they in turn coach other Juilliard student ensembles. The quartet also participates in the Juilliard String Quartet Seminar. Previous graduate resident quartets include the Avalon, Calder, Chiara, Miró, and St. Lawrence string quartets.