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 d ...

'' said of a 2016 performance of

Beat Furrer Beat Furrer (born 6 December 1954) is a Swiss-born Austrian composer and conductor. He has served as professor of composition at the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz since 1991. He was awarded the Ernst von Siemens Music Prize in 201 ...

's String Quartet No. 3 and Hans Thomalla'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 122 ...

, 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 Hans Thomalla,

Marcos Balter Marcos Balter (born April 1, 1974) is a Brazilian contemporary classical music composer and the Fritz Reiner Professor of Musical Composition at Columbia University. Life and professional career Balter began his music studies at age five at th ...

, 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 Miguel Zenón (born December 30, 1976) is a Puerto Rican alto saxophonist, composer, band leader, music producer, and educator. He is a multiple Grammy Award nominee, and the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship and a MacArthur Fellowship. He als ...

. The band appeared on Swiss violin soloist Rachel Kolly d'Alba'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 ...

’s Concerto for Violin, Piano, and String Quartet and is featured on albums from composers

Augusta Read Thomas Augusta Read Thomas (born April 24, 1964) is an American composer and professor. Biography Thomas studied composition with Oliver Knussen at Tanglewood; Jacob Druckman at Yale University; Alan Stout and Bill Karlins at Northwestern University ...

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 pr ...

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

Josef Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( , ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions to musical form have l ...

, Sky Macklay, Chris Fisher-Lochhead, and David Reminick.

The Strad ''The Strad'' is a UK-based monthly classical music magazine about string instrumentsprincipally the violin, viola, cello and double bassfor amateur and professional musicians. Founded in 1889, the magazine provides information, photographs and ...

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

for

Best World Music Album The Grammy Award for Best Global Music Album is an honor presented to recording artists for influential music from around the globe at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards. Honors i ...

Albums

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

* Serious Business (2016) Sono Luminus

Albums featuring Spektral Quartet

* ''Fin de siècle'' (2015)

Aparté Aparté is a French classical music record label founded in 2010 by Nicolas Bartholomée, director of Little Tribeca recording studios. Bartholomée had earlier founded the recording studio Musica Numeris in the late 1980s, and the Ambroisie label ...

* ''Of Being is a Bird'' (2016)

Nimbus Records Nimbus Records is a British record company based at Wyastone Leys, Ganarew, Herefordshire. They specialise in classical music recordings and were the first company in the UK to produce compact discs. Description Nimbus was founded in 1972 by ...

* ''Fanm d'Ayiti'' (2019)

New Amsterdam Records New Amsterdam Records is a record label in New York City that was formed in 2008 by Judd Greenstein, Sarah Kirkland Snider, and William Brittelle to promote classically trained musicians who fall between traditional genre boundaries. Often abbrev ...

Articles and reviews

* Chicago Reader:
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