Nicholas Tavani, violin Rachel Shapiro, violin Gregory Luce, viola Alan Richardson, cello
Praised by Strad Magazine for their "high-octane" performance, the Aeolus Quartet is among the finest young string quartets performing today. Violinists Nicholas Tavani and Rachel Shapiro, violist Gregory Luce, and cellist Alan Richardson formed the Aeolus Quartet in 2008 at the Cleveland Institute of Music. Since its inception, the all-American quartet has been awarded prizes at nearly every major competition in the United States, and performed across the globe to great acclaim. Luke Quinton of the Austin-American Statesman writes, "The Aeolus Quartet is a powerful and thoughtful group of young musicians who are plotting an ascending course...this vibrant group shows great promise."
The Aeolus Quartet are Grand Prize winners of the 2011 Plowman Chamber Music Competition and 2011 Yellow Springs Chamber Music Competition. They were also awarded First Prize at the 2009 Coleman International Chamber Music Competition, a Silver Medal at the 2011 Fischoff International Chamber Music Competition, and a Bronze Medal at the 2010 International Chamber Music Ensemble Competition in New England. The 16th Annual Austin Critics' Table also named the Aeolus Quartet their 2010-2011 "Best Ensemble." The Quartet's 2010-2011 season highlights include a two-week tour of China, a summer residency at the Austin Chamber Music Center, and concerts featuring the music of American composers across the United States made possible by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. The Quartet has collaborated on stage with such artists as Eugenia Zukerman, Brian Lewis, DaXun Zhang, Zuill Bailey, Peter Salaff, and the Miro Quartet.
In the summer of 2010, the Aeolus Quartet was the Young Quartet-in-Residence at the Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival in Vail, CO. Summer 2010 also included performances at Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall, the Perlman Music Program, the Juilliard String Quartet Seminar, the St. Lawrence String Quartet Seminar, and the Sunflower Music Festival. The Quartet has participated in the Aspen Music Festival's Center for Advanced Quartet Studies, the Young Quartet-in-Residence Program at the Pine Mountain Music Festival, and the Jeunesses Musicales International Chamber Course in Weikersheim, Germany.
Dedicated to bringing music into the community, the Aeolus Quartet designed and performed a program for elementary students in the Cleveland Public School system in an April 2009 project made possible by the Frances E. Sykora Outreach Performance Fund. The significant impact of this program has led to its becoming an ongoing project in the Cleveland Public School system. Working in collaboration with the University of Texas through the Rural Chamber Music Outreach Initiative, the Quartet has presented educational programs and performances in communities throughout the state of Texas.
The Aeolus Quartet has studied extensively with the Miro, Juilliard, Takacs, Artemis, and Cavani Quartets. The Quartet's other mentors include artists such as Peter Salaff, William Preucil, Donald Weilerstein, James Dunham, Roger Tapping, Heime Muller, and Itzhak Perlman. The members of the Quartet hold degrees from the Peabody Conservatory, the Cleveland Institute of Music, and the University of Texas at Austin, where they served as the first Graduate String Quartet in Residence. The Aeolus Quartet is currently the Graduate Fellowship String Quartet at the University of Maryland, where they are pursuing Doctoral degrees.
The Quartet is named for the Greek god Aeolus, the keeper of the four winds. He is known for welcoming Odysseus and his crew with music during their journey back to Ithaca in Homer's Odyssey.
Lauded by the Washington Post for his "brilliant musicianship," violinist Nicholas Tavani debuted in Washington, D.C.'s Gaston Hall at the age of eight. Since then, he has performed extensively in the United States and around the world, including at the Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Carnegie Hall, Constitution Hall, Strathmore Hall, the State Department, and the National Gallery of Art; given concerts in London, Germany, Italy, Baltimore, Los Angeles, Kansas City, Denver, Austin, and Albuquerque; and toured Bolivia, Peru, Austria, and Hungary. Performances with orchestra include the Aspen Festival Orchestra, Prince William Symphony, Little River Symphony, Masterworks Festival Orchestra, CIM Chamber Orchestra, and many others.
A winner of the 2009 Coleman International Chamber Music Competition, Nicholas is an alumnus of the Aspen Music Festival, Encore School for Strings, the New York String Orchestra Seminar, and the MasterWorks Festival. With the Aeolus Quartet, he toured the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and Wisconsin as well as presenting the world premieres of Alexandra Bryant's string quartet "Of This Earth" and Evan Premo's chamber opera "Diaries of Adam and Eve," scored for string quartet and two voices. In addition, he recently performed the world premiere of Alexandra Bryant's violin concerto "Such a Child" with the CIM Chamber Orchestra in Cleveland. He is also laureate of several other major competitions, including the Kingsville International Competition for Strings and the Postacchini International Violin Competition.
At present, Nicholas serves as first violinist of the Aeolus Quartet at the University of Texas-Austin's Butler School of music, where they are the Graduate Quartet in Residence. The program involves extensive teaching and performing responsibilities, educational outreach to the Austin community, and intensive study with the Miro Quartet.
In addition to the classical repertoire, Nicholas is deeply committed to exploring the rich musical offerings of diverse musical genres. For his role as the Fiddler in a 2003 production of Fiddler on the Roof, Nicholas received the east coast Critics and Awards Program "Cappie" Award for Best Cameo Actor. Nicholas is a member of the band Myrrh, which performs extensively in the Midwest and East Coast areas. They released their first full-length studio album in January 2008.
An alumnus of the Cleveland Institute of Music, Nicholas studied violin with William Preucil and chamber music with Peter Salaff and the Cavani Quartet. In addition to a Bachelor of Music in Violin Performance from CIM Nicholas also studied mathematical physics at Case Western Reserve University. Previous teachers include Ronda Cole, Stephen Clapp, and Ricardo Cyncynates. He has collaborated with many prominent artists, including the Miro Quartet, the Cavani Quartet, Peter Salaff, and Scott Haigh.
Rachel Kitagawa Shapiro, born in Reading, PA, has been a member of the Aeolus Quartet since its inception in 2006. Presently pursuing a Master of Music degree as part of the graduate quartet-in-residence at the University of Texas at Austin, Ms. Shapiro studies with Sandy Yamamoto and Daniel Ching of the Miro Quartet. She completed her undergraduate studies at the Cleveland Institute of Music in 2009 under the tutelage of Linda Cerone and David Russell.
At the age of 15, Ms. Shapiro performed with the Reading Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Sidney Rothstein as a winner of the Reading Symphony Orchestra League's Annual Concerto Competition. She has also performed as soloist with the Lower Merion Symphony. The first prize recipient of the 2005 Atonement Bach Scholarship Competition, Ms. Shapiro was also awarded the Samuel L. Correnti Scholarship by the Reading Musical Foundation. Ms. Shapiro has been a member of the Pennsylvania All State Orchestra, in addition to serving as concertmistress of the Reading Symphony Youth Orchestra. She is an alumna of the Settlement Music School in Philadelphia, where she was awarded an Advanced Study Scholarship for String Quartet. Having held the position of concertmistress of the Settlement Chamber Orchestra, Ms. Shapiro appeared with this ensemble on a broadcast of NPR's "From the Top" radio show in 2005.
She has spent summers at the Aspen Music Festival and School, International Music Academy of Pilsen, Czech Republic, ENCORE School for Strings, Meadowmount School of Music, and Interlochen Arts Camp. Ms. Shapiro's past teachers include Yumi Ninomiya Scott and Yayoi Numazawa of the Philadelphia Orchestra. She has performed in masterclasses for such distinguished artists as Joel Smirnoff, Charles Castleman and Sherry Kloss.
Gregory Luce is currently an artist diploma scholar studying with John Largess of the Miro Quartet at the University of Texas at Austin. Mr. Luce has performed in the Akron and Mansfield Symphonies, the Cleveland Chamber Orchestra, and as the associate principal violist of the Erie Philharmonic from 2007-2009. He has performed at festivals in Austria, England, Hungary, Germany, Canada, and the United States, and has premiered dozens of pieces in varied ensembles across the United States, with concert venues including the Kennedy Center, Alice Tully Hall, Severance Hall and the Meyerhoff Concert Hall in Baltimore. As an educator he is also in demand, having been invited to coach, teach privately, and perform at the ICMP chamber music course at Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and at other festivals in Tennessee and Colorado.
Mr. Luce graduated from the Peabody Conservatory (B.M.), where he studied with Stephen Wyrczynski of the Philadelphia Orchestra and Victoria Chiang, and afterwards graduated from the Cleveland Institute of Music (M.M.), where he studied with Mark Jackobs of the Cleveland Orchestra. Before entering Peabody, he was principal violist of the Memphis Youth Symphony for three years, in which he won the concerto competition in 2000, and was invited to perform with the Scheidt School of Music's symphony orchestra. Mr. Luce was awarded the first two Viola Assistant Fellowships to attend the MasterWorks Festival in 2007 and 2008, and was invited by the same festival to attend Recreatio, a week-long arts summit in Winchester, England.
Since 2008 he has been violist of the Aeolus Quartet, Coleman-Barstow Prize for Strings Winners of the 2009 Coleman International Chamber Ensemble Competition.
A founding member of the Aeolus Quartet, Alan Richardson is a student in the Masters of Music program at the University of Texas at Austin, where he studies with Joshua Gindele of the Miro Quartet. Mr. Richardson is a graduate of the Cleveland Institute of Music, where he earned a Bachelor of Music degree and studied with Melissa Kraut and Richard Aaron.
At the age of 16, Mr. Richardson performed as principal cellist of the Virginia All State Orchestra. He also served as principal cellist of the Richmond Symphony Youth Orchestra for three years, and performed with the National High School Honors Orchestra in 2005. As a winner of the 2005 Richmond Symphony Concerto Competition, Mr. Richardson performed as soloist with the Richmond Symphony. Mr. Richardson is an alumnus of the Arcato School of Chamber Music in Richmond, VA, where he studied with James Wilson, formerly of the Shanghai Quartet. Additionally, he coached with members of the Shanghai Quartet and pianist Joanne Kong at the University of Richmond.
As a member of the Aeolus Quartet, Mr. Richardson has premiered works by Evan Premo, Alexandra Bryant, and Norwegian composer Rolf Wallin. He has also performed new works by San Francisco based composer Gabriela Lena Frank for the Chamber Music Society of Central Virginia.
Festivals in which Mr. Richardson has participated include the Jeunesses Musicales Deutschland International Chamber Music Course, Aspen Music Festival and School, ENCORE School for Strings, Pine Mountain Music Festival, Meadowmount Music Festival, and Eastern Music Festival. Mr. Richardson has also performed in master classes for cellists David Hardy, Sharon Robinson, Alisa Weilerstein, Clancy Newman, Zuill Bailey, and many others. His past teachers include Neal Cary, James Wilson, Hannah Holman, and Joseph Wargo.