With excellence and passion, the Bryant Park Quartet (Anna Elashvili and Ben Russell, violins, Nathan Schram, viola, and Tomoko Fujita, cello) delivers captivating performances, delighting audiences across the country.

A prizewinner in the 2010 Hugo Kauder International Music Competition, the BPQ has established itself as an accomplished string quartet through imaginative and spirited concerts. With its series, “The rEvolving Ear,” the BPQ strives to create programs that highlight connections between established works and composers, and explore contemporary works that inspire new paths of listening and appreciation for historical works.

In addition to performing, the BPQ is dedicated to connecting with communities through creative education and outreach. A past recipient of a  Chamber Music America Residency Partnership Program grant, the BPQ has impacted numerous schools and community programs with its unique approach to music instruction. As the first Ensemble-in-Residence at Stony Brook University’s Community Music Program, the Bryant Park Quartet is spearheading an initiative to spark interest and involvement in chamber music throughout the surrounding communities. Through this residency, the BPQ works with young musicians in Stony Brook’s Pre-College Program and Summer Chamber Music Camp to raise the level of performance while teaching vital chamber music skills.  The BPQ also presents outreach lecture/demonstrations to string programs in nearby public schools, increasing awareness of the value of chamber music.

Formed in 2006, the Bryant Park Quartet has performed recitals at Lincoln Center, Staller Center for the Arts, the Austrian Cultural Forum, Des Moines Art Center, as well as soloists with the Cornell Chamber Orchestra, and in collaboration with the Mark Morris Dance Group at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center. In an effort to reach a more diverse audience and vary the listening experience, the BPQ has also presented performances at art galleries, outdoor park concerts,  community centers, and  private house concerts. The BPQ has been invited as teaching artists to give masterclasses and chamber music seminars at Azusa Pacific, Biola, and Cornell Universities. In the past 5 years, the BPQ has initiated chamber music residencies at numerous public schools including those in Port Jefferson, Hewlett-Woodmere, West Des Moines, and Bennington VT, and coached ensembles of the Santa Barbara and Des Moines Youth Symphonies. The quartet has also shared their music with thousands of school children in rural Kentucky and Ohio under the auspices of New Performing Arts, Inc.

Based in New York City, the Bryant Park Quartet has been coached by members of the Brentano, Borromeo, Cavani, Cleveland, Emerson, and Juilliard String Quartets as well as Itzhak Perlman, Heidi Castleman, Colin Carr, Kathy Murdock, and Roger Tapping. The BPQ has participated in the Chamber Music Workshop at The Perlman Music Program, the Juilliard String Quartet Seminar, and The Mannes Beethoven Institute.

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