Chiara String Quartet

The Chiara String Quartet are Harvard's current Blodgett Artists-in-Residence.

When Julie Yoon joined the Chiara String Quartet in 2000, she not only gave up a spot in a master’s program at Juilliard, but also agreed to pull up stakes in New York City and put them down in Grand Forks, North Dakota. The Manhattan-based quartet had won a rural residency grant, but had lost its second violinist to an arm injury. Those left (Rebecca Fischer on violin, Jonah Sirota on viola, and Gregory Beaver on cello) needed a replacement. “The fact that they were going to North Dakota to do this residency,” Yoon says, “was a strong indication of what kind of people they were and what kind of group they wanted to be.” The players aim to be musical pioneers in both what and where they perform: Haydn to Schoenberg, in concert halls, company cafeterias, schools, and even nightclubs. Now, as the Blodgett Artists-in-Residence, they will spend 12 weeks (spread across three academic years) teaching and performing at Harvard. Group members say they went out West because that afforded so many opportunities to play (albeit sometimes at schools at 7 a.m., with half-frozen fingers). They also had time to settle on ways to resolve disputes. In an orchestra, notes Beaver, “You can play with people you have active lawsuits against. Not so much in a quartet.” (“At least [the quartet] won’t last,” adds Fischer.) They have since spent two years in New York in a residency with the Juilliard String Quartet, and now hold a long-term position at the University of Nebraska that enables them to spend 60 percent of their time traveling and performing. “That’s really why we do this,” explains Sirota. “We also love to teach, but performance comes first.” 

You might also like

‘Passengers’ at A.R.T. Blends Acrobatics with Einstein’s Relativity

Review: Quantum mechanics meets circus arts at the American Repertory Theater’s performance

Bringing Korean Stories to Life

Composer Julia Riew writes the musicals she needed to see.

Thomas Andrew “Tom” Lehrer

The mathematician and satirist kept Harvard in his thoughts—and lyrics.

Most popular

Is the Constitution Broken?

Harvard legal scholars debate the state of our founding national document.

Paolo Pasco and the art of making crosswords

Paolo Pasco and the art of making crosswords

Harvard Research Funding Will Resume, Government Signals

Notices of grant reinstatements follow a court ruling, but the Trump administration could still appeal. 

Explore More From Current Issue

Nineteenth-century prison ruins with brick guardhouse surrounded by forest.

This Connecticut Mine Was Once a Prison

The underground Old New-Gate Prison quickly became “a school for crime.”

David McCord in suit reading a book at cluttered wooden desk in office filled with framed art and shelves.

The Pump Celebrates Its 85th Birthday

Giving Harvard traditions their due 

Room filled with furniture made from tightly rolled newspaper sheets.

A Paper House in Massachusetts

The 1920s Rockport cottage reflects resourceful ingenuity.