The Lark Quartet/Lark Chamber Artists enterprise is a bold new venture, which is gaining much critical acclaim for being "a polished and warmly communicative ensemble [that delivers] a performance of grace, proportion and burnished brilliance." (The Washington Post) With the world-renowned Lark Quartet at its core, the Lark Chamber Artists (LCA) encompasses a variety of musician combinations and musical genres. LCA programs span a broad range of styles that feature elements of World Music from Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East, Jazz, Minimalism, Traditional Western Chamber Music and the Baroque.

Inspired by the Lark Quartet's ground-breaking collaborations with artists such as The Ethos Percussion Group, choreographer Bill T.Jones, Edgar Meyer and Daniel Bernard Roumain (DBR), whose String Quartet No.5,"Rosa Parks," is featured on the Lark's highly acclaimed CD "Klap 'Ur Handz," LCA is joining a small number of ensembles whose members recognize the need to offer something more global in scope than the traditional concert program.

Recent LCA programs have included performances of Jennifer Higdon's “Scenes from the Poet's Dreams” with renowned pianist Gary Graffman, the premiere of Ronald Perera's “Why I Wake Early” with the New Amsterdam Singers in New York, a tribute to jazz legend Max Roach with Grammy-winner Jeff Holmes, a performance of Ted Wiprud's American Journal with the dynamic baritone Stephen Salter for the Cutting Edge Series at Symphony Space, and performances of Brahms' G Major Viola Quintet with Laurence Dutton of the Emerson Quartet.

With numerous international awards, including the Naumburg Chamber Music Award and Russia's Shostakovich Competition Gold Medal, The Lark Quartet has been among America's most active ensembles for more than two decades. The quartet has performed in most of the world's great cultural centers, such as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, The Library of Congress, London's Wigmore Hall, the L'Oper de la Bastille in Paris, and appeared at international festivals including Lockenhaus, the Schleswig-Holstein Festival, Mostly Mozart, Istanbul Festival, Wolftrap and the Beethoven Festival in Moscow. They have commissioned and premiered works by many of today's leading composers, including Pulitzer-Prize winner Paul Moravec, Jennifer Higdon, Peter Schickele, DBR, Giovanni Sollima, Libby Larsen, Ken Frazelle and Aaron Jay Kernis, who wrote both of his String Quartets for the Lark.

Featured on NPR's St. Paul Sunday Morning, New Sounds Live, Performance Today, A Prairie Home Companion and in Strings, Strad, Chamber Music America magazines and the New York Times, the Lark Quartet has gathered a large following since its inception in 1985. Based in New York, the Lark serves as Quartet-in-Residence at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. With a discography comprising more than a dozen CDs, the Lark has recorded for the Decca/Argo, Arabesque, Koch, Point, New World, ERI and Endeavor labels. Future recording plans include a quintet by Paul Moravec with pianist Jeremy Denk, to be completed in 2009.top

Core Artists
Deborah Buck, Violin
Harumi Rhodes, Violin
Kathryn Lockwood,Viola
Caroline Stinson, Cello
Todd Palmer, Clarinet
Yousif Sheronick, Percussion
Stephen Salters, Baritone

Special Guest Artists
Jeremy Denk, Piano
Gary Graffman, Piano
Ethos Percussion Group
Kenneth Cooper, Harpshichord / Fortepiano *

* Baroque Program