Icarus Quartet

The half piano/half percussion icarus Quartet, Winner of the 2019 Chamber Music Yellow Springs Competition and praised by the Wall Street Journal for their “virtuosity, precision and unflagging energy,” will present their “Eclectic Electric” program of recent commissions. As the name suggests, this set list has something for everyone – sampled lo-fi hip hop beats, merengue music driven by a Dominican güira, and at one point eschews all of icarus’ acoustic instruments in exchange for two synthesizers, a drum machine, and a MIDI mallet keyboard as chamber music meets Electronic Dance Music.

Having recently toured with Béla Bartók’s Sonata for two pianos and percussion andthree companion pieces commissioned for and written expressly for the group by compositional titans Martin Bresnick, Viet Cuong, and Pulitzer Prize winner Jennifer Higdon, iQ explores the other end of their spectrum of aesthetic while championing early career composers whose voices fit beautifully within the Quartet’s sensibilities. Five of the six works comprising “Eclectic Electric” are the culminating results of icarus’ iQ Tests program, an annual call for scores that draws applications from students at premiere institutions around the world, leading to the selection of two iQ Test Scholars who each receive a paid commission, mentorship from a renowned composer, a season-long residency with the ensemble, live performances, and a professionally produced musicvideo. Alumni of this program have achieved continued success, garnering commissions from ensembles and organizations such as the Cabrillo Festival, Sandbox Percussion, the Barlow Endowment, the New York Youth Symphony, and the Albany Symphony. 

Upcoming projects for icarus Quartet include the commercial recording of “Bartók Rebórn,” touring Ruby Fulton’s multimedia Wilderness Suite with images and data from geographer Teresa Cavazos Cohn and videos by eight independent filmmakers, and an evening-/album-length collaboration with composer/steel pan virtuoso Andy Akiho.

About the Artists:

Praised by the Wall Street Journal for their “virtuosity, precision, and unflagging energy,” the half piano/half percussion icarus Quartet has toured domestically and abroad, won the Chamber Music Yellow Springs Competition, and given new life to old masterpieces as well as the future of their instrumentation. Whether championing the music of Béla Bartók and their recent companion work commissions from Martin Bresnick, Viet Cuong, and Jennifer Higdon, engaging with human/environmental relationships in a multimedia production with composer Ruby Fulton and eight video artists, or collaborating with Andy Akiho for his next evening/album-length creation, icarus’ work and classical-meets-arena rock concerts are always pushing boundaries and offering immersive experiences for their audiences around the world.

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