ENSO STRING QUARTET
with guest Thomas Meglioranza, baritone

Maureen Nelson, violin
Tereza Stanislav, violin
Robert Brophy, viola
Richard Belcher, cello

Applauded by New Zealand's The Press " exchanges within the quartet were seamless, and one really senses that this group live, breathe, and think as one" the Enso String Quartet is quickly becoming one of America's leading young ensembles. In spring 2003, the quartet was a winner of the 2003 Concert Artists Guild International Competition, and they also earned top prizes at Chamber Music Yellow Springs (OH) Competition and the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition. In April 2004, the Enso Quartet will make its New York debut on the Concert Artists Guild series at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall.

Future engagements include concerts at the Chautauqua Institution, Brooklyn Friends of Chamber Music, Chicago's Music in the Loft series, Market Square Concerts, Newtown (CT) Friends of Chamber Music, the Tuckamore Festival (St. John's, Newfoundland), Asociacion Nacional de Conciertos (Panama) and the Bedford (NY) Chamber Music Series with pianist Anthony Newman. The quartet is also planning a CD release on the NAXOS label.
The Enso String Quartet has performed throughout the United States and abroad since its inception in 1999, including featured appearances at such music festivals as La Jolla SummerFest and the Great Lakes Music Festival. Other highlights from previous seasons include appearances on the Mostly Music and the Dame Myra Hess Series of Chicago, the Syzygy: New Music at Rice Series in Houston, and a concerto with the Rockford Symphony Orchestra and with the Champaign Urbana Symphony at the Krannert Center for Performing Arts. Internationally, the quartet has toured Costa Rica as guest artists in the Twelfth International Costa Rica Music Festival, and they have also performed in England, Australia, New Zealand and Canada, where the group was a Finalist in the Banff Seventh International Quartet Competition.
Currently the graduate Quartet-in-Residence at the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University, the Enso Quartet has also held a graduate residency at Northern Illinois University, where the group was mentored by the Vermeer Quartet. Recently, the ensemble held a winter residency at the Britten-Pears Young Artists Programme in Aldeburgh, England. In addition to extensive residency work at the university level, the ensemble is committed to bringing classical music to the community, and offers numerous programs geared for children that emphasize interaction between audience and the quartet. Most recently, the group brought their educational programs to Mark O'Connor's Fiddle Camp in California and thousands of children and teachers in schools throughout Illinois under the auspices of the Chicago-based International Music Foundation. In addition, the group performs extensively in Texas schools sponsored by the Houston Friends of Music
The Enso String Quartet draws together four young musicians from around the world. Its members hold degrees from The Juilliard School, Curtis Institute of Music, University of Indiana, Royal Northern College of Music (UK) and the University of Canterbury (New Zealand). The members of the ensemble met while pursuing graduate degrees at Yale University, where they later worked with the Tokyo Quartet. Other prominent musicians with whom the group has worked include members of the Cleveland, Alban Berg, and Takacs quartets and composer Joan Tower. The quartet has been featured in Chamber Music Magazine's 'American Ensembles' column, and their performances have been broadcast on PBS, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation-ABC Classical FM, WGBH Boston Public Radio, Chicago's WFMT, Houston's KUHF 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.