Enso Quartet

With a 2010 Grammy nomination for “Best Chamber Music Performance,” the Enso String Quartet has quickly become one of the country’s most accomplished young ensembles. Shortly after the group’s inception at Yale University in 1999, Enso had success at the Banff International String Quartet Competition and won the Concert Artists Guild International Competition, and has consistently received high praise for performances ever since. The quartet’s debut recording was described by Strad Magazine as “an auspicious start to their recording career,” and was followed by the recent Grammy-nominated release of the quartets of Ginastera. MusicWeb International summed up this album as “playing of jaw-dropping prowess revealing masterpieces of the 20th century quartet literature … seek out this group – they are clearly bound for greatness.” The disc was selected as one of MusicWeb’s Recordings of the Year for 2009.



In addition to the success of their recordings, Enso String Quartet’s concerts have been acclaimed by audiences and critics alike. The Houston Chronicle praised the group for their “edge-of-the-seat vitality few groups maintain throughout a performance.” The group is equally at home in many styles, and is committed to the classics of the string quartet repertoire as well as being strong advocates for new music. In 2009, the quartet received a Chamber Music America Commissioning Grant with composer Kurt Stallmann. That same year, two recordings were released on the Albany label featuring the quartet in world premiere recordings of music by Karim Al Zand and Anthony Brandt. Previous seasons have seen the quartet give many other premiere performances, including Joan Tower’s Piano Quintet with the composer at the piano.



The Enso String Quartet’s members are sought after as teachers and chamber music mentors. As well as giving countless outreach performances in schools throughout the country, the quartet has held residencies with Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music as Lecturers in String Quartet, Boston University’s Tanglewood Institute, and currently with the Interlochen Adult Amateur Chamber Music Camp, and Connecticut’s Music For Youth. The quartet has spent time developing programs suited to a range of ages, and they have worked with Young Audiences of Houston and New York, and with the International Music Foundation in Chicago. They were also featured in the inaugural Young Artist Residency with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra.



The Enso String Quartet members hold degrees from Yale University, The Juilliard School, Curtis Institute of Music, New England Conservatory, Guildhall School of Music (UK) and the University of Canterbury (New Zealand). Together they held residencies at Northern Illinois University with the Vermeer Quartet and at the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University.



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.



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