Spektral Quartet is a string quartet based in Chicago comprising Clara Lyon (violin), Theo Espy (violin), Doyle Armbrust (viola) and Russell Rolen (cello). It is the ensemble-in-residence at the University of Chicago's Department of Music, where it has served since 2012. ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' said of a 2016 performance of Beat Furrer's String Quartet No. 3 and

Hans Thomalla Hans Thomalla (born 1975) is a German composer, who has resided in the United States since 2002. Career Hans Thomalla was born in Bonn, and studied composition at the Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts, Germany, from 1994 to 1999. ...

's ''Bagatellen'' for string quartet, "The quartet proved that they have everything: a supreme technical command that seems to come easily nda capacity to make complicated music clear..." Spektral Quartet says it "actively pursues a vivid conversation between exhilarating works of the traditional canon and those written this decade, this year, or this week."

History

The quartet's 2014 project Mobile Miniatures involved 47 composers, including

Nico Muhly Nico Asher Muhly (; born August 26, 1981) is an American contemporary classical music composer and arranger who has worked and recorded with both classical and pop musicians. A prolific composer, he has composed for many notable symphony orchestras ...

, David Lang, and

Anna Thorvaldsdottir Anna may refer to: People Surname and given name * Anna (name) Mononym * Anna the Prophetess, in the Gospel of Luke * Anna (wife of Artabasdos) (fl. 715–773) * Anna (daughter of Boris I) (9th–10th century) * Anna (Anisia) (fl. 1218 to 12 ...

, who were commissioned to write ringtone-length pieces that were then recorded by Spektral Quartet and made available for download as ringtone, alarms, and text-message alerts on mobile devices. The group recorded its debut album, ''Chambers'' (on Parlour Tapes+), in 2013 in collaboration with composers

, Marcos Balter, LJ White, Chris Fisher-Lochhead, and Ben Hjertmann. Also in 2013, the group released ''From This Point Forward'' (on Azica Records), with bandoneon/accordion virtuoso Julien Labro and saxophone player Miguel Zenón. The band appeared on Swiss violin soloist

Rachel Kolly d'Alba Rachel Kolly d'Alba (born 21 May 1981 in Lausanne, Switzerland) is a Swiss violinist. Considered a child prodigy at the violin, she started playing at the age of five. Early life Kolly d'Alba took her first violin and piano lessons at the age of ...

's 2015 record, ''Fin de siècle'' (Aparté), performing

Ernest Chausson Amédée-Ernest Chausson (; 20 January 1855 – 10 June 1899) was a French Romantic composer who died just as his career was beginning to flourish. Life Born in Paris into an affluent bourgeois family, Chausson was the sole surviving child of a ...

’s Concerto for Violin, Piano, and String Quartet and is featured on albums from composers Augusta Read Thomas and Ryan Ingebritsen. In 2016, the group released ''Serious Business'' (on Sono Luminus), which was nominated for a 2017

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...

. The album that explores humor in classical music through the compositional lenses of Josef Haydn,

Sky Macklay Sky Macklay (born 1988) is an American composer of concert music and an oboist. She was winner of the Leo Kaplan Award (the top prize in the Morton Gould Young Composer Award of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) in 2013 an ...

, Chris Fisher-Lochhead, and David Reminick. The Strad magazine said of the album, "these are superb performances, vivid and strongly felt, convincingly argued and full of rich, characterful detail." The Spektral Quartet created the Feldman Forward Initiative to help raise money for

GirlForward GirlForward is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded in 2011 by Blair Brettschneider. It is dedicated to empowering refugee girls aged 12 to 21 from over 40 different countries, who have resettled in areas around Chicago, Illinois, and Aust ...

, an organization that assist refugee girls who have resettled in Chicago, Illinois and in Austin, Texas, and challenged attendees at its Chicago premiere of Morton Feldman’s Quartet No. 2 on March 11th by promising for every man who stayed for the entirety of five-hours a donation in his name would be made. In 2019,

Nathalie Joachim Nathalie Joachim is an American vocalist, flutist, and composer born in Brooklyn, New York. She is a Grammy-nominated artist whose music spans a broad range of genres, including indie-rock, pop, and classical. Some of her works include ''Discourse ...

's album ''Fanm d'Ayiti'', which featured the group, was nominated for the

for Best World Music Album.

Albums

* ''Chambers'' (2013) Parlour Tapes+ * ''From This Point Forward'' (2013) Azica Records ** with Julien Labro (bandoneon/accordion) ** with special guest Miguel Zenón * Serious Business (2016)

Sono Luminus Sono Luminus is a classical music record label founded by Sandy Lerner and Leonard Bosack, who also founded Cisco Systems. The label specializes in high-resolution recordings of acoustic music. History Sono Luminus was created in 1995 by Cisco ...

Albums featuring Spektral Quartet

* ''Fin de siècle'' (2015) Aparté * ''Of Being is a Bird'' (2016) Nimbus Records * ''Fanm d'Ayiti'' (2019) New Amsterdam Records

Articles and reviews

Chicago Reader The ''Chicago Reader'', or ''Reader'' (stylized as ЯEADER), is an American alternative weekly newspaper in Chicago, Illinois, noted for its literary style of journalism and coverage of the arts, particularly film and theater. It was founded by ...

:
Spektral Quartet give difficult music a friendly face
' (Jan 20, 2016) *

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

:
Review: Frequency Festival Offers in Chicago Offers the Complicated and Compelling
' (Mar 1, 2016) *

Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

:
For Spektral Quartet, modern music mixes well with humor
' (Mar 11, 2016) * WQXR Q2 Music:
Humor and Fiendish Difficulty in Spektral Quartet's 'Serious Business'
' (Jan 18, 2016) * WQXR Q2 Music:
10 Imagination-Grabbing, Trailblazing Artists of 2014
' (Dec 15, 2014) *

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to ...

:
Mobile Miniatures: Download Ringtones Composed by Nico Muhly, Julia Holter, Dirty Projectors' Olga Bell, and More
' (May 13, 2014) *

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television a ...

:
Spektral Quartet dials up micro-symphonies for cellphone
' (Nov 26, 2013)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spektral Quartet American string quartets Musical groups established in 2010 2010 establishments in Illinois