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Fall 2003 marked the beginning of a two-year appointment as Artists-in-Residence
at Indiana Universitys South Bend campus.
During the 2002-2003 season, the ensemble served for a second year
as Resident Quartet at The Juilliard School. The Avalon Quartet
has been in residence at the Hartt School of Music where the ensemble
worked extensively with the Emerson Quartet, and previously held
a similar residency with the Vermeer Quartet at Northern Illinois
University. The Avalons have served as quartet in residence for
the 2001 Texas Christian University/Van Cliburn Piano Institute,
and in the 1999-2000 season, the ensemble served as the first Ernst
Stiefel Foundation String Quartet in Residence at the Caramoor International
Music Festival Center for Music and Art. The members of the Quartet
have worked with major artists including Henry Meyer, Jaime Laredo,
Leon Fleischer, Peter Wiley, Gilbert Kalish, and Michael Tree, and
members of the Orion, Cleveland, La Salle, Juilliard, and Tokyo
string quartets.
Formed in 1995 at the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, the Quartets
numerous honors include top prize at the 2000 International Music
Competition of the ARD in Germany, First Prize, the Channel Classics
Prize, and the Rockport Chamber Music Festival Prize at the 1999
Concert Artists Guild Competition., and the Grand Prize at the 1998
Fischoff Chamber Music Competition. The ensemble has also won awards
the 1998 Banff International String Quartet Competition and the
1999 Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition. In 1997,
the Quartet participated in Isaac Sterns Chamber Music Workshop
at Carnegie Hall. As a result, Mr. Stern invited the Avalon Quartet
to perform in the Isaac Stern Chamber Music Encounters in Jerusalem
and in March 2000 presented the ensembles Carnegie Hall debut
at Weill Recital Hall. The Quartet made its New York debut on the
Alexander Schneider Series at the New School in 1998.
The Quartets live performances and conversation have been
featured on Chicagos WFMT-FM, New Yorks WQXR-FM and
WNYC-FM, National Public Radios Performance Today, Canadas
CBC, Australias ABC and France Musique. The Channel Classics
label released the Avalon Quartets debut CD, Dawn to Dusk,
in February 2001 to critical acclaim. The Quartets CD was
honored with a Chamber Music America/WQXR Record Award as one of
the best chamber music recordings of 2001.
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