Rolston String Quartet

Rolston String Quartet

With their debut album Souvenirs, an all-Tchaikovsky release that was named Recording of the Year by BBC Music Magazine, the Rolston String Quartet continues to receive acclaim and recognition for their musical excellence. The quartet was awarded First Prize at the 12th Banff International String Quartet Competition, and was the recipient in 2018 of Chamber Music America’s prestigious Cleveland Quartet Award. Other accolades include prizes in Astral Artists’ National Auditions and the Chamber Music Yellow Springs Competition.

The Rolston String Quartet has performed at numerous important venues including Carnegie Hall, London’s Wigmore Hall, the Freer Gallery in Washington, DC, and UCLA’s Herb Alpert School of Music; at chamber music societies in Calgary, Vancouver, Houston, Detroit, Phoenix, and Philadelphia; and in such European cities as Paris, Leipzig, Berlin, Lucerne, Heidelberg, Barcelona, and Graz. Notable artistic collaborators have included David Shifrin, Janina Fialkowska, Gary Hoffman, Nobuko Imai, Miguel da Silva, and the St. Lawrence and Dover string quartets. The quartet’s 2021-22 schedule includes concerts at Music Mountain (CT), Bay Chamber Concerts and the Collins Center for the Arts (ME), Chamber Music Raleigh (NC), Palm Beach State College (FL), Music at Kohl Mansion (CA), and the Doudna Fine Arts Center at Eastern Illinois University.

The quartet is an associated artist at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel in Waterloo, Belgium, and previously served as the Fellowship Quartet in Residence at the Yale School of Music. Previously, they were the graduate quartet-in-residence at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music. They have also taught at the University of Toronto and the Bowdoin (ME) International Music Festival.

Their primary mentors include the Brentano Quartet, James Dunham, Norman Fischer, and Kenneth Goldsmith, and they have received additional guidance from the St. Lawrence String Quartet, Barry Shiffman, Miguel da Silva, and Alastair Tait.

The Rolston String Quartet was formed in the summer of 2013 at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity’s Chamber Music Residency. They take their name from Canadian violinist Thomas Rolston, founder and longtime director of the Music and Sound Programs at the Banff Centre. Luri Lee plays a Carlo Tononi violin, generously on loan from Shauna Rolston Shaw. The Rolston String Quartet is endorsed by Jagar Strings of Denmark.