Violist

Catalyst Quartet makes its exciting Fortas series debut. Founded by the Sphinx Organization in 2010, the ensemble has been praised for its “perfect ensemble unity” and “unequaled class of execution” (Lincoln Journal Star). Building its programs and projects around a belief in the unifying power of music, the group acts as a catalyst—redefining and reimagining the classical music experience. The ensemble brings this mission and compelling new music to the relaxed lounge setting of the Club at Studio K.


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Catalyst Quartet

Kennedy Center

Boston Conservatory faculty members present a concert of music for string quartet, featuring work by Conservatory alum Che Buford, Pulitzer Prize-winner Raven Chacon, and Johannes Brahms, performed by violinists Markus Placci and Judith Eissenberg, violist Paul Laraia, and cellist Rhonda Rider.

Boston Conservatory Faculty Quartet

Boston Conservatory at Berklee

The Boston Conservatory Faculty String Quartet presents a recital featuring Beethoven’s String Quintet No. 2, op. 29, and Britten’s String Quartet No. 2, op. 36. The performance will feature violinists Markus Placci and Judith Eissenberg, violist Paul Laraia, guest cellist Andrew Mark, and special guest violist Lila Brown.

Faculty String Quartet Recital

Hailed by The New York Times at its Carnegie Hall debut as “invariably energetic and finely burnished… playing with earthy vigor,” the Grammy Award-winning Catalyst Quartet was founded by the internationally acclaimed Sphinx Organization in 2010. The ensemble (Karla Donehew Perez, violin; Abi Fayette, violin; Paul Laraia, viola; and Karlos Rodriguez, cello) believes in the unity that can be achieved through music and imagine their programs and projects with this in mind, redefining and reimagining the classical music experience.

Catalyst Quartet & Zuill Bailey - Sitka

Harrigan Centennial Hall

The Skaneateles Festival welcomes back the “exciting conductor-less band of strings” ECCO (New Yorker). Joined by founder-violinist Nick Kendall of Time for Three and recent 2023 Grammy-winner, the orchestra performs beloved music by Mozart as well as American composer William Grant Still’s joyous Dances from Panama. Eminent American pianist Shai Wosner joins ECCO to bask in the orchestra’s signature “warm glow” of sound (New York Times).

Mozart Under the Stars

Skaneateles High School

Pianist Shai Wosner, known for his “remarkable blend of the intellectual, physical and even devilish sides of performance” (Chicago Sun Times), joins members of ECCO for a program of music from the spiritual to the spooky: J. S. Bach’s heavenly chorale preludes; Hungarian composer György Kurtág’s alternately serene and demonic miniatures; and Beethoven’s hair-raising “Ghost” Trio. The program ends back on earth with Max Bruch’s lush, romantic Octet for Strings.

Angels & Ghosts

First Presbyterian Church

First Presbyterian Church of Skaneateles

ECCO (East Coast Chamber Orchestra) fills the stage to share music of remembrance, nostalgia, and the will to live life to its fullest. The program features Edvard Grieg’s heartrending Holberg Suite “in the olden style”; Jamaican composer Eleanor Alberga’s tender elegy for her mother; and Franz Schubert’s searing, intense “Death and the Maiden” Quartet, heard here in Gustav Mahler’s unforgettable arrangement for string orchestra.

Ecco Plays Schubert

Boston Conservatory Associate Professor Paul Laraia presents an evening of works for viola.

Artistry in Action: Paul Laraia, Viola Faculty Recital

Boston Conservatory string faculty members present a recital.

Artistry in Action: Faculty String Quartet

Join us for season two of the Catalyst Quartet’s Uncovered series with guest artists bringing to broader recognition the music of historic composers whose works have rarely been heard. The San Francisco Chronicle’s Joshua Kosman put it best when he wrote, “You and I could go to chamber concerts for years and never hear a program as full of surprises and discovery as this one. And we’ve been missing out.”

War Memorial and Performing Arts Center

The Grammy Award-winning Catalyst Quartet returns to complete its series uncovering important American chamber music with what the New York Times calls “invariably energetic and finely burnished playing with earthy vigor.” Pianist Michelle Cann has championed the lush and complex works of Florence Price and is admired by other pianists for her “eloquence and authority.”

Catalyst Quartet with Michelle Cann Piano

The Catalyst Quartet continues its exploration of compelling chamber works in this collaborative program with bass-baritone Dashon Burton, featuring the songs of Florence B. Price.

Paul Laraia

Violist

Events

Mar 21, 2024

Catalyst Quartet · Kennedy Center

Feb 25, 2024

Boston Conservatory Faculty Quartet · Boston Conservatory at Berklee

Dec 11, 2023

Faculty String Quartet Recital · Boston Conservatory at Berklee

Sep 12, 2023

Catalyst Quartet & Zuill Bailey - Sitka · Catalyst Quartet

Aug 12, 2023

Mozart Under the Stars · East Coast Chamber Orchestra

Future and recently performed repertoire

Viola in String Quartet No. 2 by Britten

Boston Conservatory at Berklee

Viola in Piano Quintet in A minor by Price

San Francisco Performances

Viola in String Quintet in C major by Beethoven

Boston Conservatory at Berklee

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