Tesla Quartet, Quartet

Biography

Normal
0

Winner of the Gold Medal at the 2012 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition and Prizewinner in the 2012 London International String Quartet Competition and 2013 Bordeaux International String Quartet Competition, the Tesla Quartet was formed at The Juilliard School in 2008 and quickly established itself as one of the most promising young ensembles in New York, winning Second Prize at the J.C. Arriaga Chamber Music Competition only a few months after its inception.

Highly praised by the London Evening Standard and The Strad magazine, the quartet held a fellowship as the Graduate String Quartet-in-Residence at the University of Colorado-Boulder from 2009 – 12, where they studied with the world-renowned Takács Quartet.  They enjoy a busy performing schedule, both in the States and abroad, with appearances in Austria, England, and France. Recent engagements include the Fischoff Gold Medal Winner’s Tour of the Midwest and performances in Montréal and Michigan. Highlights of the 2014-15 season include the quartet’s West Coast debut as well as a return to London for a performance at Wigmore Hall.

Community involvement and outreach are integral parts of the Tesla Quartet’s mission. The ensemble spent three years in partnership with the Aspen Music Festival’s Musical Odysseys Reaching Everyone program (M.O.R.E), providing lessons, master classes, workshops, and performances for young string players in the Roaring Fork Valley, Colorado.  As Quartet-in-Residence at the Strings Music Festival, the quartet provides community enrichment programs to the Steamboat Springs and Craig, CO, communities. The quartet has also coached a chamber music program in conjunction with the Greater Boulder Youth Orchestras.  In the summer of 2012 they were the faculty quartet at the Renova Music Festival in Pennsylvania.

In addition to their work with the Takács Quartet, the Tesla Quartet has worked with Günter Pichler and Rainer Schmidt in ProQuartet-CEMC’s professional training program. Additional coaches include the Tokyo String Quartet, the Artis Quartet, James Dunham, Curtis Macomber, Robert Mann, Sylvia Rosenberg, and Michael Tree, and members of the Alban Berg, Emerson, Endellion, Kronos, and Leipzig String Quartets. Recently the quartet participated in an innovative workshop with laptop performance technology in collaboration with the Boulder Laptop Orchestra. It was also the central ensemble in a unique series of master classes on classical improvisation, presented by David Dolan of London’s Guildhall School. 

“Though free to think and act, we are held together, like the stars in the firmament, with ties inseparable. These ties cannot be seen, but we can feel them.” – Nikola Tesla

These words are the inspiration behind the Tesla Quartet’s vision. For the quartet, music is the conduit for this incredible, binding force. Through performance, teaching, and outreach, the Tesla Quartet strives to tap into this palpable feeling and create meaningful connections with their audiences.

Hailed by the Chicago Sun Times as a “superb cellist,” Kimberly Patterson has earned recognition for her artistry as a chamber and orchestral musician.  Kimberly recently gave the world premiere of Cayetano Soto’s ballet for solo cello, Uneven, with the Aspen Santa Fe Ballet and subsequently toured throughout the United States. She has toured with the Verbier Orchestra throughout Europe, Asia and Australia. Festival appearances include the Verbier Festival in Switzerland and the Miyazaki Festival.