VC ARTIST

VC Artist Viano Quartet is one of the most sought-after performing young ensembles today and is currently in residence at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Bowers Program from 2024-2027. Since soaring to international acclaim as the First Prize winner at the 13th Banff International String Quartet Competition, they have traveled to nearly every major city across the globe, captivating audiences in New York, London, Berlin, Hong Kong, Vancouver, Paris, Beijing, Toronto, Lucerne, and Los Angeles.

Upcoming concerts in their 2025 season include return performances in Alice Tully Hall for CMS Lincoln Center as well as appearances at Chamber Music Northwest in Portland, Music@Menlo, Tippet Rise Art Center, and many more, and will be traveling internationally for performance tours in the UK, Germany, and Hong Kong. They have collaborated with world-class musicians including Emanuel Ax, Inon Barnatan, Fleur Barron, James Ehnes, Mahan Esfahani, Marc-André Hamelin, Sir Stephen Hough, Miloš Karadaglić, Bridget Kibbey, Paul Neubauer, David Shifrin, and Elisso Virsaladze. In 2023, they released their first EP Portraits on the Curtis Label, featuring pieces by Schubert, Florence Price, Tchaikovsky, and Ginastera.

In addition to their busy touring schedule, the quartet members are also dedicated advocates of music education and have worked with students at Music@Menlo, SUNY Buffalo, the Colburn Academy, Duke University, University of British Columbia, Northern Michigan University, Utah State University, University of Denver, and Virginia Commonwealth University. This season, they will be returning to the University of Victoria for several weeks of residency which will include performances, masterclasses, and lectures. The quartet has previously held graduate quartet residencies at Curtis and Colburn and was also the Peak Fellowship Quartet-in-Residence at Meadows School of the Arts at SMU.

In their formative years, the quartet sustained unwavering enthusiasm from every international jury, never entering a major competition without capturing a top prize. Before their career-defining achievement at the Banff International String Quartet Competition, they also received major prizes at the Wigmore Hall, Osaka, Fischoff, ENKOR, and Yellow Springs Chamber Music Competitions. Each member of the quartet is grateful for the interminable support from their distinguished mentors at the Curtis Institute and Colburn Conservatory, including members of the Dover, Guarneri, and Tokyo string quartets.

The name “Viano” was created to describe the four individual instruments in a string quartet interacting as one. Each of the four instruments begins with the letter “v,” and like a piano, all four string instruments together play both harmony and melody, creating a unified instrument called the “Viano”