String Quartet

Allison Ostrander & Laurie Petruconis, violins - Susan Janda, viola - Rebecca Arons, cello

The Four Voices String Quartet has been delighting audiences with their cohesive and spirited sound since 1992 when it was established as the Fellowship String Quartet of the graduate program at the University of Minnesota School of Music. Its players are all members of the Minnesota Opera Orchestra, frequent subs with the Minnesota Orchestra and St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, and active recording artists and free-lancers.

The quartet is committed to presenting new works and collaborating with artists across genres in addition to performing the classical canon. With One World Consort (OWC), an ensemble of a jazz quartet and string quartet, 4VSQ has created and performed public concerts with Argentinian-American bandoneon player JP Joffre, Brazilian-American pianist Jovino Santos Neto, and traditional Scottish-Irish music artist Laura MacKenzie. Other collaborations include recording with guitarist Cory Wong on his album Trail Songs: Dusk and performing as featured ensemble with the Apollo Men’s Chorus for The Liberation of Auschwitz: A Concert.

In February 2020, 4VSQ launched its role as “Resident Artists” at Hennepin Avenue United Methodist Church (HAUMC) with an inaugural concert, Luminous Night of the Soul. This past year, the quartet recorded several video performances, including works by Caroline Shaw for Minnesota Opera’s Apart Together. The quartet is currently developing a concert of music by living women composers to be performed at the Phipps Center in Hudson this fall.