Pyrenean String Quartet

About the Artists

The Pyrenean String Quartet was founded in July of 2020 during the pandemic. We found comfort together as a "pod" making music during this challenging time by exploring works in depth while isolated from most of our other musical  colleagues, friends and family. Throughout the pandemic we performed, live streamed and recorded a number of traditional and contemporary string quartets for Chicago arts organizations including the Fulcrum Point New Music Project and the Chicago Philharmonic. These projects were primarily fund raisers for fellow musicians in need. In 2021 we celebrated Adolphus Hailstork's 80th birthday by performing his first string quartet for him via a Youtube live streaming concert. We were featured at New Music Chicago's Impromptu Fest performing Eleanor Alberga's String Quartet No 3 and later that year recorded a new string quartet called Chants and Antiphons by Lawrence Axelrod for his latest CD.

Our group members have participated in workshops and master classes with student and professional composers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, the University of Chicago, Merit School of Music, Northeastern Illinois University, DePaul University, Bowling Green University and also under the auspices of Fulcrum Point New Music Project's Discovery series and Picosa.

Kate Carter and Rika Seko, violins
Claudia Lasareff-Mironoff, viola
Paula Kosower, violoncello

Recordings

April 21, 2021
Music by Hailstork, Frank and Alberga:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=G7L6tfT8CJg

Dec 2020
Shostakovich No. 8
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7Yn2EmeWnLk

Photos

Ensemble Nouvelle Époque

Ensemble Nouvelle Époque is comprised of some of the finest chamber and orchestral musicians in the Chicago area including members of the Chicago Philharmonic, Grant Park Symphony, and University of Wisconsin -Milwaukee faculty, as well as many other fine ensembles and schools. These artists not only perform traditional repertoire, but also have a passion for working with living composers and recording and premiering new music. 

The 2016 CD Release
The Heart Revived - Music by Lawrence Axelrod

September 2013 CD Release
The Six Brandenburg Fantasias by Lawrence Axelrod

John Von Rhein describes the Brandenburg Fantasias in the Chicago Tribune