Formosa Quartet Named Quartet-in-Residence at Moores School of Music
FQ will begin their residency at UH in the Fall of 2023
HOUSTON, TX | FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE --- Four familiar faces will join the University of Houston scene this fall as the internationally acclaimed Formosa Quartet becomes the Quartet-in-Residence at the Moores School of Music.
The appointment will include regular visits by the Formosa Quartet to the Moores School of Music each year. The appointment supports the School’s string and chamber music programs, with individual ensemble coaching, master classes and public performances, including appearances at the Moores Music in the City Series at Christ Church Cathedral, where the residency will be announced during a concert on February 18th by the Dean of the McGovern College of the Arts, Andrew Davis.
“This appointment takes the already nationally known faculty and programs in strings and chamber music in the Moores School of Music and elevates them to the next level,” says Davis. “Students of the Moores School will be the real beneficiaries of having artists of this caliber in regular residence, and the Formosa Quartet now adds one more reason for students to come to the Moores School of Music.”
Associate Professor of Violin and Head of the Moores School’s String Division Dr. Kirsten Yon adds, “In the past several years, over the course of multiple visits, the quartet has formed lasting bonds with the faculty and students of the Moores School of Music. We are looking forward to the future of our partnership and we're delighted to welcome these virtuosic artists with programming and events centered around community, collaboration, and joyful music-making.”
Equally impressive as individual concert artists, the members of the Formosa Quartet are violinists Jasmine Lin and Wayne Lee, violist Matthew Cohen and cellist Deborah Pae. The Quartet formed in 2002 when the four Taiwanese-descended founders came together for a concert tour of Taiwan. Since its founding, the cultural identity of the Quartet has expanded to include broader American, pan-Asian, and Eastern European influences, and they are known for concerts that include curated sets of folk, pop, jazz and poetry arrangements, and for their recent sociocultural exploration of American music and culture in their “American Mirror Project.”
Their appointment will allow students to study with a culturally rich ensemble, and will add the Moores School of Music’s name to the Quartet’s already impressive list of residencies and teaching engagements at major universities and conservatories across North America and Asia.
During one of the Quartet’s recent visits to the Moores School of Music, Cello Performance major Oshagan Merjanian said that “spending time with The Formosa Quartet was an incredibly inspiring and literally uplifting experience. Their world-class musicianship is astounding, and their humility to interact with students at our level is cherished. There was no air of loftiness, and their disposition was respectful, nurturing, benevolent, and expectant of progress. I certainly feel my outlook has expanded and playing has improved because of their residency.”
Bernini Chan, a DMA student in Violin Performance, added, “the Formosa Quartet has once again leveled up my ability to share my music with sounds and words! The interaction they had with audiences during their concert was eye-opening and totally inspired me with fresh ideas to plan my own chamber group’s community outreach performance. I am already looking forward to them coming back next semester!”
“On stage and in the classroom, the Formosa Quartet brings imagination to life, and their dynamic, energetic presence is yet another reason for students to choose the University of Houston,” added Yon.
You can hear the Formosa Quartet in concert in the Blaffer Museum at the University of Houston on February 16, and at Christ Church Cathedral in downtown Houston on February 18.
From left to right: FQ members Matthew Cohen, Deborah Pae, Wayne Lee, and Jasmine Lin
CONCERT DETAILS
Thursday, February 16, 2023 at 7:30 p.m.
Blaffer Art Museum, University of Houston Main Campus
4173 Elgin St, Houston, TX 77004
Saturday, February 18, 2023 at 7:30 p.m.
Christ Church Cathedral
1117 Texas Ave, Houston, TX 77002
ABOUT THE MOORES SCHOOL OF MUSIC
The Moores School of Music’s mission at the University of Houston’s Kathrine G. McGovern College of the Arts is to provide an outstanding comprehensive music education on the undergraduate and graduate levels, overseen by a faculty and staff second-to-none; to continue to develop recognition of the school at the local, national, and international levels in order to attract students of the highest caliber; and to provide the university community and the city with the highest quality performances that will both educate and entertain.
ABOUT THE FORMOSA QUARTET
Winners of the First Prize and Amadeus Prize at the Wigmore Hall International String Quartet Competition, the Formosa Quartet (FQ) is “one of the very best quartets of their generation” (David Soyer, cellist; Guarneri Quartet). Hailed as “spellbinding” (The Strad) and “remarkably fine” (Gramophone), the ensemble has given critically acclaimed performances at the Library of Congress, the Da Camera Society of Los Angeles, the Chicago Cultural Center, the Walter Reade Theater at Lincoln Center, the National Concert Hall in Taipei, Wigmore Hall in London, die Glocke Bremen, and the Kammermusiksaal at the Berliner Philharmonie.
For two decades and counting, the Formosa Quartet has forged uncharted musical terrain in performances that go “beyond the beautiful and into the territory of unexpectedly thrilling… like shots of pure espresso” (MUSO Magazine). The founding members’ interest in championing Taiwanese music and Indigenous cultures has since expanded to include the exploration of the rich folk traditions and heritages found in America today. Whether in its uncompromisingly exploratory approach to the standard quartet literature; its socioculturally probing American Mirror Project; or its exclusive collection of folk, pop, jazz, and poetry arrangements, Formosa Quartet is committed to an insatiable search for the fresh and new in string quartet expression.
The Formosa Quartet undertakes a variety of residencies at organizations and institutions across North America and Asia. FQ is Faculty Quartet-in-Residence at the National Youth Orchestra of Canada (NYOC), holds week-long performance and teaching residencies at the University of Houston and Eastern Michigan University, and has enjoyed residencies at Art of Élan; Rice University; University of California, Los Angeles; and University of California, San Diego.
The Formosa Quartet has played a leading role in actively commissioning new works, contributing significantly to the modern string quartet repertory. FQ’s 2019 milestone album From Hungary to Taiwan includes premiere recordings of three Formosa commissions: Lei Liang’s Song Recollections, Dana Wilson’s Hungarian Folk Songs, and Wei-Chieh Lin’s Five Taiwanese Folk Songs. Other works composed for the quartet include pieces by Dana Wilson, Wei-Chieh Lin, Shih-Hui Chen, and Clancy Newman.
The members of the Formosa Quartet – Jasmine Lin, Wayne Lee, Matthew Cohen, and Deborah Pae – have established themselves as leading solo, chamber, and orchestral musicians. With degrees from the Juilliard School, Curtis Institute of Music, New England Conservatory, Colburn Conservatory, and the Cleveland Institute of Music; they have performed in major venues throughout the United States, Asia, and Europe, and have been top prizewinners in prestigious competitions such as the Paganini, Primrose, Fischoff, and Naumburg competitions. As chamber musicians, they have appeared regularly at the Marlboro, Kingston, Santa Fe, and Ravinia festivals, as well as at Lincoln Center, La Jolla Summerfest, Caramoor, and Chamber Music Northwest. The members of the Formosa Quartet currently serve on faculty at Eastern Michigan University, Roosevelt University, and Heifetz International Music Institute. They have previously taught at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Taos School of Music, and the Juilliard School.
Formed in 2002 when the four Taiwanese-descended founders came together for a concert tour of Taiwan, the Formosa Quartet’s cultural identity has since expanded to include broader American, pan-Asian, and Eastern European roots. Their name “Formosa” is taken in its most basic sense: Portuguese for “beautiful.”
The Formosa Quartet forms an octet with violins Andrea Guarneri (1662) and Joseph Curtin (2001), a Peter Westerlund viola (2014), and a Vincenzo Postiglione cello (1885).
ABOUT KATHRINE G. MCGOVERN COLLEGE OF THE ARTS
The University of Houston’s Kathrine G. McGovern College of the Arts is a premier institution for education, scholarship, and innovation in the arts, where every day we are cultivating the next generation of creative professionals and unlocking the potential of the arts to impact society and change the world. Our students are forging new frontiers and advancing the arts through academic excellence, innovative programming, and—together with our world renown faculty—ascending to the highest level of contemporary professional practice. Houston is a first choice for the arts. Houston is a city of culture and diversity, a quintessential arts destination, and a gateway to the international arts community. Steeped in the richness of diverse cultures, Houston and its engaging community network provide a citywide laboratory for research, education, and practice in the performing and visual arts.
Rebeca Hawley-Trejo, Senior Media Relations Specialist, University of Houston
713-743-6773
rtrejo@central.uh.edu
Stephanie Williams, Communications Manager, Kathrine G. McGovern College of the Arts
scwilli3@central.uh.edu
Kayly M. Scott, Director of Marketing & Communications, Kathrine G. McGovern College of the Arts
713-743-9458
kmscott@central.uh.edu
Robert Besen, General Management, Formosa Quartet
646-729-7121
robert@besenarts.com