Peter Winograd, violin
Laurie Carney, violin
Daniel Avsholomov, viola
Wolfram Koessel, cello
Internationally recognized as one of the world's finest quartets, The American String Quartet recently celebrated its 30th anniversary during the 2005-2006 season. Highlighting the anniversary was the Quartet’s debut in a new series of recordings on the Arabesque label, including quartets of celebrated composer Richard Danielpour, and the launch of the Complete Brahms String Chamber Music featuring a stellar list of collaborative artists. Highlights of their 2006-2007 season include performances with Guillermo Figueroa and Lydia Artimiw, and a tour of Europe. The Quartet was honored to be selected to represent the chamber music field in a series of retrospective concerts celebrating the Naumburg Foundation’s 80th anniversary, performed by previous winners of the Naumburg Award.
In three decades of touring, the American has performed in all fifty states and appeared in virtually every important concert hall throughout the world. Their presentations of the complete quartets of Beethoven, Schubert, Schoenberg, Bartók, and Mozart have won widespread critical acclaim. The 1998 MusicMasters Complete Mozart String Quartets performed on a matched quartet set of instruments by Stradivarius are widely considered to have set the standard for this repertoire.
The American’s innovative approach to concert programming has won them a number of notable residencies in recent years, including "Beethoven the Contemporary" at the University of Michigan, The Six Mozart Viola Quintets at the Aspen Music Festival with Guarneri Quartet violist Michael Tree (broadcast live nationally via Chicago superstation WFMT), and a just-concluded four-year cycle titled “4-5-6…” at Princeton University, where the Quartet performed the complete quintets and sextets of Mozart and Brahms, joined in each concert by renowned guest artists.
Resident quartet at the Aspen Music Festival since 1974 and the Manhattan School of Music in New York since 1984, the American has also served as resident quartet at the Taos School of Music (1979 to 1998), the Peabody Conservatory, and the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. The Quartet's diverse activities have also included numerous international radio and television broadcasts, tours of Asia, and performances with the New York City Ballet, the Montreal Symphony and the Philadelphia Orchestra.
As champions of new music, the American has given numerous premières, most recently including Richard Danielpour's Quartet No. 4, commissioned by Kansas City Friends of Chamber Music, and Curt Cacioppo's "a distant voice calling", commissioned by Arizona Friends of Chamber Music. Albany Records released their recording of three quartets by Kenneth Fuchs in 2001.
Their extensive discography can be heard on the Albany, CRI, MusicMasters, Musical Heritage Society, Nonesuch and RCA labels. The Quartet is popular with national radio audiences and has been featured on Minnesota Public Radio’s St. Paul Sunday Morning, National Public Radio’s All Things Considered and live broadcasts on WFMT.
Formed in 1974, when its original members were students at The Juilliard School, The American String Quartet was launched by winning both the Coleman Competition and the Naumburg Award in the same year. Individually, the members devote additional time outside the quartet’s active performance and teaching schedule to solo appearances, recitals and master classes.
8/06 Please discard all previously dated biographical material
Peter Winograd, violin
Born into a gifted musical family, Peter Winograd began his studies with his parents. His father was the founding cellist of the Juilliard Quartet and his mother a professional pianist. He gave his first solo public performance at the age of eleven, and at seventeen was accepted as a scholarship student of Dorothy DeLay at The Juilliard School. Recognized early as an exceptionally promising young artist, Peter Winograd was a top prize-winner in the 1988 Naumburg International Violin Competiion. Since his critically acclaimed New York debut, he has been heard with orchestras and in recital across the country. Mr. Winograd joined the American String Quartet in 1990. He continues to appear as soloist in the U.S. and abroad. Highlights of recent solo appearances include performances in Brussels, Helsinki, Parma and the Great Hall at the Moscow Conservatory. This season he performed the Sibelius Violin Concerto with the Hartford Symphony; his father Arthur Winograd was the featured guest conductor. He is a member of the violin and chamber music faculties of the Manhattan School of Music and Aspen Music School. His wife, violinist Caterina Szepes, is a regular participant in the Marlboro Festival and a member of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. His instrument is by Giovanni Maria del Bussetto (Cremona, 1675).
Laurie Carney, violin
A founding member of the American String Quartet, Laurie Carney comes from a prodigious musical heritage. Her father was a trumpeter and educator, her mother a pianist, and her three siblings all violinists. She began her studies at home and at the age of eight was admitted to the Preparatory Division of The Juilliard School. At fifteen she was the youngest to be accepted into Juilliard’s College Division. Ms. Carney studied with Dorothy DeLay and received both B.M. and M.M. degrees from Juilliard. She has shared the stage with many of the world’s leading artists, including Isaac Stern, Yefim Bronfman, Pinchas Zukerman and Frederica von Stade; and performed in Mozart’s Sinfonia concertante with the Bournemouth Symphony and the Basque (Spain) Symphony Orchestra. Ms. Carney frequently performs duo recitals with Guarneri Quartet violist Michael Tree. She was recently featured in the New York premiere of Giampaolo Bracali’s Fantasia for Violin and Piano. Currently professor of violin at the Manhattan School of Music and on the string and chamber music faculty of Aspen Music School, she has held teaching positions at the Mannes College of Music, Peabody Conservatory, the University of Nebraska and the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University. Her frequent guest master classes have recently taken her to California, Colorado, Indiana, Michigan and New Mexico. Ms. Carney performs the duo repertory with her husband, cellist William Grubb. Her non-professional interests include animal rights and environmental concerns. Her violin is by Carlo Tononi (Venice, 1763).
Daniel Avshalomov, viola
The son of composer/conductor Jacob Avshalomov, Daniel Avshalomov began his training in Oregon, and after a year’s study abroad (with Orrea Pernel and members of the Amadeus Quartet), he took his B.M. and M.M. degrees at The Juilliard School where he served an unprecedented five years as principal violist of the orchestra and was the first violist in the School’s history to be awarded the Loeb Prize for Outstanding Achievement. Before joining the American String Quartet, he was principal violist for the orchestras of the Spoleto, Tanglewood and Aspen music festivals as well as for the Brooklyn Philharmonia and the American Composers Orchestra. He performed as solo violist with the Bolshoi Ballet and was a founding member of the Orpheus Chamber Ensemble. A frequent guest artist with the Guarneri Quartet, he has also been featured artist with such groups as the Da Camera Society, Marin Music Fest and La Musica di Asolo, and has shared the stage with Norbert Brainin, Misha Dichter, Maureen Forrester, Bruno Giuranna and the Juilliard and Tokyo quartets. He is a faculty member of the Manhattan School of Music as well as the Aspen Music School. Mr. Avshalomov gave the premiere in New York of Giampaolo Bracali’s Concerto per Viola, which has also been broadcast in Europe by RAI. His essays and criticism continue to appear in respected musical journals, and he has prepared editions of contemporary viola works for publication. His most recent recording, Three Generations Avshalomov (Albany Records), was featured on NPR’s All Things Considered and in Classical Pulse. For balance he climbs mountains. His instrument is by Andrea Amati (Cremona, 1568).
Wolfram Koessel , cello
Since his critically acclaimed Carnegie Hall debut in 1994, cellist Wolfram Koessel has performed as a soloist and chamber musician in concert halls throughout the world. STRAD magazine wrote of "the exceptionally attractive cello playing of Wolfram Koessel" who has established himself as a sought after soloists, performing concertos with the Jupiter Symphony, the New York Metamorphoses Orchestra (which he co-founded in 1994), and symphony orchestras in Stuttgart, Cordoba, Mendoza, Costa Rica, Iowa and New York. In 2004, Koessel was named musical director of the Mark Morris Dance Group, with which he has performed hundreds of concerts worldwide. His collaborations include performances with legendary tabla virtuoso Zakir Hussain, distinguished dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov and cellist Yo Yo Ma, among many others. Mr. Koessel appears with a wide range of ensemble and chamber music groups, most notably and frequently with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra while also holding the position of Artistic Director of "Sundays on the Island," a long-running weekly chamber music series. Mr. Koessel resides with his wife, pianist and writer J. Mae Barizo, in Manhattan. His cello is by Giovanni Cavani (Modena 1917).
