Fry Street Quartet

This remarkable quartet – hailed as “a triumph of ensemble playing” by the New York Times – is a multi-faceted ensemble taking chamber music in new directions. Touring music of the masters as well as original works from visionary composers of our time, the Fry Street Quartet has perfected a “blend of technical precision and scorching spontaneity” (Strad). Since securing the Grand Prize at the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, the quartet has reached audiences from across the globe exploring the medium of the string quartet and its life-affirming potential with “profound understanding…depth of expression, and stunning technical astuteness” (Deseret Morning News).

The FSQ’s repertoire reaches many corners of the musical spectrum, including works of Britten, Schubert, Beethoven and Bartok, as well as programs of American women composers Laura Kaminsky, Amy Beach, Joan Tower and Libby Larsen. Over the next two seasons, the Salt Lake City-based NOVA series will present the FSQ’s complete Bartok Cycle, pairing these monumental works with Haydn’s String Quartets Op. 76.

The Fry Street Quartet has commissioned and premiered new works by a wide range of composers. Pandemonium, by Brazilian composer Clarice Assad, was premiered with the San Jose Chamber Orchestra; Michael Ellison’s Fiddlin’ was co-commissioned by the Arizona Friends of Chamber Music Series and the Salt Lake City based NOVA series; Laura Kaminsky’s Rising Tide and Libby Larsen’s Emergence were both commissioned especially for the quartet’s global sustainability initiative, The Crossroads Project.  In 2014, the FSQ also premiered Laura Kaminsky’s chamber opera, As One, with soprano Sasha Cooke and baritone Kelly Markgraff at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.

After more than 30 performances in three different countries, The Crossroads Project: Rising Tide continues to resonate with audiences. This fresh approach to communicating society’s sustainability challenges draws upon all the senses with a unique blend of science and art. The Project has been featured on the NPR program joe’s big idea, which aired during All Things Considered, as well as in publications by Yale Climate Connections, Reuters, and the New York Times. The Crossroads Project’s second chapter, Crossroads: Emergence is written for string quartet, film, and actor and furthers exploration of the topic.

The quartet’s touring history includes performances at major venues, festivals, and distinguished series such as Carnegie Hall, the Schneider Series at the New School and the Brooklyn Academy of Music in  NYC, the Jewel Box series in Chicago, Chamber Music Columbus, the Kravis Center in West Palm Beach, the DiBartolo Performing Arts Center at Notre Dame, the Theosophical Society in London, and the Mozart Gemeinde in Klagenfurt, Austria.

The Fry Street Quartet is pleased to hold the Dan C. and Manon Caine Russell Endowed String Quartet Residency at the Caine College of the Arts at Utah State University.