Afiara String Quartet

Valerie Li & Yuri Cho, violins
David Samuel, viola
Adrian Fung, cello

Winner, 2008 Concert Artists Guild International Competition

The Juilliard School's Graduate Quartet in Residence, 2009-10

www.afiara.com

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Winner of the 2008 Concert Artists Guild International Competition, the Afiara String Quartet has been praised as “a terrifically unified, versatile, and moving ensemble” with “startling intensity” and a “powerful, keen-edged collective sound” (San Francisco Classical Voice).  This all-Canadian group is currently The Juilliard School’s graduate resident string quartet from 2009-11, including studies with and assistant duties to The Juilliard String Quartet and Lincoln Center recitals in May 2010 and 2011.  Complimented for its “energy, style and pizzazz” by David Harrington of the Kronos Quartet, the Afiara appeared at Carnegie Hall on the Kronos: Signature Works series and Chamber Music America’s National Conference tribute to the Kronos.

In addition to its win at the 2008 CAG Competition, the Quartet claimed top prizes at 2010 Banff International String Quartet Competition and the 2008 Munich ARD International Music Competition.  From 2007-2009, the Quartet was the Morrison Fellowship Quartet-in-Residence at San Francisco State University's International Center for the Arts (ICA), where the members were teaching assistants to their mentor ensemble, the Alexander String Quartet.  One of two fellowship quartets at the 2008 Aspen Festival's Center for Advanced Quartet Studies, the Afiara Quartet also serves as Artist-in-Residence at Lake Tahoe Music Festival's Education and Outreach Program and is an Affiliate of San Francisco Friends of Chamber Music. The ensemble has been heard on Bavarian Radio, CBC Radio 2, KALW, and was featured in the Road to Banff documentary profiling its participation in the 2007 Banff International String Quartet Competition.

Season highlights for 2010-11 feature debut performances at the Kennedy Center -- first on the main stage with the Juilliard String Quartet and then the Washington Performing Arts Society’s presentation of the Afiara Quartet’s own recital at the Terrace Theater -- and at New York’s Merkin Concert Hall, as well as concerts throughout the US and its native Canada.

Recent highlights include debut performances at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall on the CAG Winners Series, the Library of Congress, Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall, Schneider Concerts at the New School, Purdue University Convocations Series, Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts, and in California at Montalvo Arts Center, San Jose Chamber Music Society, Morrison Artist Series and San Francisco Performances at Herbst Theatre (Mendelssohn Octet with the Alexander String Quartet).  Featured Canadian performances are:  the Mooredale Concert Series, Calgary ProMusica and Festival of the Sound, as well as return engagements with the Montreal and Ottawa International Chamber Music Festivals. The Afiara Quartet also begins a new Visiting Quartet Residency of concerts and teaching with the Glenn Gould School at Toronto’s Royal Conservatory of Music.

Under the auspices of the ICA, the Afiara Quartet released its critically praised debut CD on the Foghorn Classics label in Fall 2009, featuring quartets by Mendelssohn and Schubert, and the Mendelssohn Octet with the Alexander Quartet.

To date, the Afiara String Quartet has given the world premieres of Brett Abigana's Une Grande Messe and Jason Bush's Visions in San Francisco (the latter of which was written for the Afiara), and the East Coast premiere of Peteris Vasks' String Quartet in New York.  Together with timpanist Louis Siu, they commissioned and premiered chamber music repertoire for string quartet and tenor timpani.  The ensemble also gave the world premiere of Huck Hodge's String Quartet No. 2 in New York with the support of the American Composers Forum and the Jerome Foundation.

In addition to their studies with the Juilliard and Alexander String Quartets, the Afiara players have worked with numerous musicians including the American, Cavani, Emerson, Kronos, Takacs and Ying Quartets, Earl Carlyss, James Dunham, Henk Guittart, Bonnie Hampton, Geoff Nuttall, Barry Shiffman and Scott St. John, and at the San Francisco Conservatory with Paul Hersh, Mark Sokol and Ian Swensen.  Yuri Cho performs on a 1690 Girolamo Amati violin, a generous gift to The Juilliard School from an anonymous donor, lent to her from the Juilliard Rare Instrument Collection.

Formed in 2006, the Afiara String Quartet takes its name from the Spanish fiar, meaning “to trust,” a basic element vital to the depth and joy of its music-making.  The ensemble is committed to education, connecting with diverse audiences and sharing music with those less fortunate.  The Quartet has served as faculty at Chamber Music of the Rockies and Canada's Southern Ontario Chamber Music Institute.  Having collaborated and performed with the rap group Blunt Delphix, the Quartet often brings urban elements into its outreach activities, bridging the gap between Haydn and hip-hop.