Enso String Quartet

Maureen Nelson, violin
John Marcus, violin
Melissa Reardon, viola
Richard Belcher, cello

It was "standing room only", wrote the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette of a performance by the Enso String Quartet. Commenting on the dynamism of the group, the Ann Arbor News declared their playing "crisp, incisive...with just the right quotient of sass." The Strad applauded them for their "lyricism, style and expression as well as sophistication" and the Washington Post noted their “glorious sonorities…thrillingly athletic performance.” In addition to audience appreciation and critical acclaim, the Enso String Quartet has earned its place in the ensemble world claiming multiple honors at the 2004 Banff International String Quartet Competition and victories at the 2003 Concert Artists Guild International Competition, the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition and the Chamber Music Yellow Springs Competition.

In the 2008-09 season, the Enso String Quartet will appear all across the United States and Canada in addition to being chosen as Quartet in Residence in The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra’s Young Artists Program. As part of this residency, the quartet will perform a three-concert recital series and perform alongside members of the orchestra in the SPCO’s regular subscription concerts, engine408 New Music Series and Chamber Music Series. The ensemble will also participate in the SPCO’s concerts and education initiatives in the orchestra’s Chicago residency and will provide educational services for the SPCO’s CONNECT music education program in Minneapolis and Saint Paul public schools.

The ensemble’s 2005 debut on Naxos Records, a 2-CD set of Ignaz Pleyel’s six string quartets, Op. 2, has garnered rave reviews. The Strad called the disc “an auspicious start to the Enso String Quartet’s recording career,” Gramophone hailed their playing as “lively and intelligent”, and Fanfare Magazine praised the ensemble for its "extraordinary talent...exceptional sense of vitality and elegance.” Upcoming releases on Naxos Records include the piano quintets of Ernst von Dohnányi and the three string quartets of Alberto Ginastera featuring the esteemed soprano Lucy Shelton.

The Enso String Quartet’s members are sought after as teachers and chamber music coaches. Since 2006 the ensemble has served as faculty and Quartet-in-Residence at the summer Boston University Tanglewood Institute and artists-in-residence at the Interlochen Adult Amateur Chamber Music Camp. From 2004-2006 the quartet’s members were Guest Lecturers at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music working closely with the Composition Department in the creation, recording and premiere performances of new works. The Enso String Quartet is committed to nurturing new generations of musicians and enjoys an ongoing residency Connecticut’s Music for Youth as well as performing their own educational outreach programs throughout the country.

The Enso String Quartet members hold degrees from The Juilliard School, Curtis Institute of Music, New England Conservatory, Guildhall School of Music (UK) and the University of Canterbury (New Zealand). The ensemble formed in 1999 and while students at Yale University and completed graduate residencies at Northern Illinois University with the Vermeer Quartet and at the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University. The quartet has been featured in the American Ensembles column of Chamber Music magazine and their performances have been broadcast on PBS, Chicago’s WFMT, Wisconsin Public Radio, Minnesota Public Radio, Houston’s KUHF, Australia’s ABC Classic FM, Radio New Zealand and Canada’s CBC radio.

The ensemble’s name, enso, is derived from the Japanese zen painting of the circle which represents many things; perfection and imperfection, the moment of chaos that is creation, the emptiness of the void, the endless circle of life, and the fullness of the spirit.