SKYROS QUARTET
DR. SARAH PIZZICHEMI AND BRANDON VANCE, VIOLINS | DR. JUSTIN KURYS, VIOLA | DR. WILLIAM BRAUN, CELLO
The Skyros Quartet brings a bright and inventive style to the performance stage. Having recently relocated to the Seattle area, they can be seen performing, teaching, and leading community events in their new hometown. In addition to their work in the Pacific Northwest, Skyros has concertized across the US, Canada, and China.
Skyros released their debut album, INTROSPECTIVE ODYSSEY, to great international acclaim in August 2015. It can be heard on the Navona label of Parma Recordings. The project was made possible by a Hixson-Lied Student Presentation of Scholarly/Creative Activity Grant. The album features three early twentieth century works by Benjamin Britten, Joaquin Turina, and Jean Sibelius.
The Skyros Quartet has performed extensively, traveling around Asia and North America. They were heard at the Aspen Music Festival and School (Aspen, Colorado) and the Sunflower Music Festival (Topeka, Kansas). In 2014, Skyros was invited to Ontario, Canada, where they were guest artists at QuartetFest 2014 at Sir Wilfrid Laurier University (Waterloo, Ontario) and performed at the Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber Music Society (Ontario, Canada). In 2013, Skyros toured China as part of an official delegation from the University of Nebraska
system, performing in Xi’an and Hangzhou. Skyros also received a Hixson-Lied Student Presentation of Scholarly/Creative Activity Grant to tour the Pacific Northwest and later in 2013, appeared at the Deer Valley Music Festival Emerging Quartets and Composers Program (Park City, Utah).
Skyros has collaborated with many living composers in the performance of new music. They have commissioned and premiered string quartets by Liza Sobel (Prayer, 2011) and Devin Maxwell (Bouquet Canyon, CA, 2013). They have also worked with Tonia Ko (Aspen Music Festival and School), Charlie Leftridge (in collaboration with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Chamber Singers and again with the Esoterics), and Stephanie Martin (Sound in the Land conference at the University of Waterloo). In 2014, Skyros was featured at Fast Forward Austin, a new music festival in Austin, Texas. Skyros performed string trios and quartets by the four composers of the W4 New Music Collective: Ruben Naeff, Molly Herron, Matt Frey, and Tim Hansen. Skyros has frequently collaborated with composer Andy Davis for performances and recordings of several of his works from many genres. Skyros made up the core string section of the UT New Music Ensemble under the direction of Dan Welcher for its 2011-2012 season.
Founded in 2010, Skyros earned Masters in Chamber Music Performance from the University of Texas at Austin Sarah and Ernest Butler School of Music, mentored by the Miró Quartet and Sandy Yamamoto. From 2012-2015, they served as the first Graduate Quartet-in-Residence at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Glenn Korff School of Music, where they completed Doctorates in Chamber Music Performance under the guidance of the Chiara String Quartet. Skyros was also mentored by Earl Carlyss, James Dunham, Sylvia Rosenberg and members of the Takacs, American, Jupiter, and Pacifica String Quartets at the Aspen Music Festival and School Center for Advanced Quartet Studies. Skyros has also been coached by the Muir and Penderecki String Quartets and composer Joan Tower.
Skyros is passionate about educating audiences to the wonders of the string quartet. They regularly visit schools, lead community engagement programs and interactive family concerts, enabling them to inspire audiences of all ages and musical backgrounds. In 2015, the members of Skyros were appointed co-Artistic Directors of ECCHO, the Emerald City Chamber Music Organization, an in-school program by Chamber Music Madness. ECCHO provides weekly coachings to young string quartets using a curriculum designed by Skyros. Members of Skyros have also served as faculty at Edmonds Community College, Union College (Lincoln, Nebraska), and the University of Texas at Austin String Project. At UNL, they were Graduate Teaching Assistants for chamber music outreach and a teaching-artist class that works with students to develop interactive presentations for children.
The Skyros Quartet takes its name from the Greek isle of Skyros, one of a quartet of islands in the Aegean Sea.
