Graduate String Quartet Program

Strings

Koa String Quartet

Photo: Johnette Martin

Welcome to the Graduate String Quartet Programs at the University of Colorado Boulder College of Music!  

The College of Music offers an Artist Diploma in String Quartet Performance for one string quartet to work intensively with members of the renowned Takács Quartet and other members of the string faculty. Applications will be open to 1) preformed string quartets and also 2) individuals who apply for ‘Artist Diploma String Quartet Performance’ who would like to be considered for placement in a new graduate string quartet formed by the Takács Quartet. The next application will be available in fall 2023 for entry in fall 2024. The Takács Graduate Quartet Residency is a two-year position generously funded by the Starling Foundation and Takács Society. While participating in the program, the graduate quartet will play recitals, perform in master classes, receive regular coaching and collaborate with other instrumentalists and composers. A generous travel budget provides the quartet with support for competitions and concert opportunities outside of Boulder.  

Takacs Quartet

Photo: Amanda Tipton

Takács Quartet

In recognition of its 50th anniversary, the world-renowned Takács Quartet was recently the subject of an in-depth profile by The New York Times and featured on the cover of Strad magazine. The Takács released two anniversary season albums in 2025 for Hyperion Records to glowing reviews. “Flow” by Ngwenyama, composed for the ensemble, was followed by an album of piano quintets by Dvořák and Price with Marc André Hamelin. In August 2025 for Musica Viva in Australia, the ensemble plays a new work “Sonnet of an Emigrant” for quartet and narrator by Cathy Milliken with texts by Bertolt Brecht.

Edward Dusinberre, Harumi Rhodes (violins), Richard O’Neill (viola) and András Fejér (cello) are excited about upcoming projects including performances throughout the USA of Mozart viola quintets with Jordan Bak and a new string quartet, NEXUS, written for them by Clarice Assad, co-commissioned by leading concert organizations throughout North America.  The group’s North American engagements include concerts in New York’s Carnegie Hall, Vancouver, Philadelphia, Boston, Princeton, Ann Arbor, Washington, D.C., Duke University, Los Angeles, Berkeley, Cleveland, Phoenix and Portland.

The Takács enjoys a busy international touring schedule. As Associate Artists at London’s Wigmore Hall, the group will present four concerts featuring works by Haydn, Assad, Debussy, Beethoven and two Mozart viola quintets with Timothy Ridout that will also be recorded for Hyperion. Other European appearances include the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, Konzerthaus Berlin, Florence, Bologna and Rome.

The members of the Takács Quartet are Christoffersen Fellows and have been Artists in Residence at the University of Colorado Boulder since 1986. During the summer months, the Takács join the faculty at the Music Academy of the West, running an intensive quartet seminar. This season the ensemble begins a new relationship as Visiting Artists at the University of Maryland. MORE

Graduate String Quartet in Residence

Koa String Quartet

The Koa String Quartet is comprised of violinists Kisa Uradomo (Maui, Hawai’i) and Leah Pernick (Metro Detroit, Michigan), violist Devin Cowan (Long Island, New York) and cellist Heewon Lee (O'ahu, Hawai’i). Koa is the Graduate String Quartet in Residence at the University of Colorado Boulder where they were the first prize winners of the 2024 Ekstrand Competition. Koa is invested in fostering musical engagement with students and presenting high quality classical music for community audiences. In addition to performing classical string quartet repertoire together, Koa also performs diverse repertoire such as film scores, pop covers and folk music. During their time as a quartet, they have prioritized their goals through their educational residency at Bravo! Vail and their work as the quartet in residence at the Hana Hou Music Program. The name “Koa” comes from the tree in the Hawaiian Islands, and the wood symbolizes strength and courage. 

Lírios Quartet
Formed in 2022 at the University of Colorado Boulder, the Lírios Quartet comprises four emerging artists who have come together under the mentorship of the Takács Quartet. As the College of Music’s current Graduate String Quartet in Residence, they are also engaged with developments in new music, including collaborations and premieres with CU Boulder SoundWorks.

Ivalas Quartet
Founded in Ann Arbor in 2016, the Ivalas Quartet comprises violinists Reuben Kebede and Tiani Butts, violist Aimée McAnulty and cellist Pedro Sánchez. The quartet has performed with artists such as the Takács Quartet, the Calidore String Quartet, Imani Winds, Eugene Drucker, Danielle Belen, David Ying and Patricia Terry-Ross.

Ajax Quartet
Founded in 2016 at the University of Colorado, the Ajax Quartet is an emerging string quartet in the Denver area that has quickly grown in following and recognition. A Boulder-based ensemble, Ajax performs for local audiences and had concert engagements in California and Washington during summer 2017.

Altius Quartet
Formed in 2011 at Southern Methodist University Meadows School of the Arts, the Altius Quartet has an active performance schedule including engagements at music festivals, series and universities throughout the United States. Highlights of the 2015-16 season include: performances at Music at Kohl Mansion in San Francisco and California State University in Fullerton, residencies at the Fayetteville Chamber Music Festival, the Western Slope Concert Series and participation in the Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival as Shouse Artists.

Orava Quartet 
During its time as our graduate quartet in residence, the Orava Quartet performed at the National Gallery in Washington, D.C., and extensively across the United States. This period also saw the quartet win the Musica Viva Australia Tony Berg Award for outstanding Australian ensemble and the Peter Druce Audience Prize at the 2013 Asia Pacific Chamber Music Competition. Its members are now based in Brisbane, Australia.

Tesla Quartet
Dubbed “technically superb” by The Strad magazine, the Tesla Quartet has garnered top prizes at numerous international competitions, including the Gold Medal at the 2012 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, Third Prize and the Best Interpretation of the Commissioned Work at the Sixth International Joseph Haydn Chamber Music Competition in Vienna and Third Prize at the 2012 London International String Quartet Competition.

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