The Lyris Quartet, CPC ensemble in residence
The Lyris Quartet performs at CPC II
The Lyris Quartet has given the world premiere performances of four string quartets on CPC programs, three of which were commissioned by the CPC for the Lyris Quartet. The members of the quartet have performed in variety of other CPC ensembles, ranging from piano trio to small chamber orchestra.
The following string quartets were given their world premiere performances by the Lyris Quartet at CPC concerts. Check out the CPC's SoundCloud page to listen to recordings of the performances!
Thomas Parish, String Quartet No. 1
Andrea Chang, A Tale O'er the Years
CPC commission
Jeff Kryka, Quartet for the Beginning of Time
The LYRIS QUARTET described as "radiant…exquisite... and powerfully engaged" by Mark Swed of the LA Times was founded in 2008. Members of the quartet have won top prizes at the Tchaikovsky International Competition and Aspen Music Festival and have collaborated with renowned artists Natalia Gutman, David Geringas, Martha Argerich, Alban Gerhardt, Boris Pergamenschikov, Guillame Sutre, Myung-Whun Chung, and Richard Stoltzman.
Lyris has collaborated closely with composers Krystof Penderecki, Andrew Norman, Oliver Knussen, Steven Mackey, John Adams, Bruce Broughton, Peter Knell, Kurt Rohde, Paquito D'Rivera, Wadada Leo Smith, and Gerard Schurmann. They appeared alongside composer/pianist Billy Childs as part of the LA Phil’s Jazz and World music series at Disney Hall and with Steve Reich at LACMA’s Bing Hall.
The quartet has appeared throughout North America, Europe, and Asia in a diverse range of ensembles including Grammy nominated groups Absolute Ensemble, Southwest Chamber Music, and Orchestra Ensemble Kanazawa as well as solo and chamber appearances in various festivals such as Ravinia, Brahms Festival in Madrid, Music Academy of the West, Banff Centre for the Arts, Czech SommerFest, and Oregon Festival of American Music among others. This season, Lyris was invited by the LA Philharmonic to perform on their Green Umbrella series and on their tribute concert to composer Steven Stucky. New projects include innovative multimedia concerts with artists Andrew Burke and Ana Prvacki as well as opening for Kraftwerk and Ben Harper. They also gave the west coast premiere of David Lang's "The Difficulty of Crossing a Field". This year will mark their fifth season as the resident ensemble for the critically acclaimed series Jacaranda: Music at the Edge.
The Lyris Quartet is the founding resident ensemble of the Hear Now Music Festival which focuses on the music of living Los Angeles composers. As part of this series, they have collaborated with and premiered works by Stephen Hartke, Don Davis, Arturo Cardélus, and Veronika Krausas, among others. The Lyris Quartet has recorded for Toccata Classics, ARS and Naxos.