The all-Canadian Afiara String Quartet is the Morrison Fellowship Quartet-in-Residence at the International Center for the Arts, San Francisco State University, where they serve as teaching assistants to their mentors, the world-renowned Alexander String Quartet. Praised by the San Francisco Classical Voice as “a terrifically unified, versatile, idiomatic, and moving ensemble”, they are Artists-in-Residence at Lake Tahoe Music Festival’s Education and Outreach Program and Affiliates of San Francisco Friends of Chamber Music. Only in their second year, the Afiara Quartet has been invited to compete as one of the ten semi-finalists in the 9th Banff International String Quartet Competition and was named a Finalist in the 2007 Concert Artists Guild International Competition. Also, they have performed at Carnegie Hall in the “Kronos: Signature Works” series, taught as Faculty Ensemble in Residence at Chamber Music of the Rockies, and, in their New York debut, were presented by Chamber Music America in a Kronos-curated concert. They have been heard on KALW, CBC Radio 2, and were featured in the “Road to Banff” documentary.

This season, the quartet enjoys re-engagements with San Francisco Performances’ Salon Series, Sierra Chamber Society, and Seventh Avenue Performances, and will also appear with Noe Valley Chamber Music Series, the MasterGuild series in Oakland, and in a three-concert tour of Ontario, Canada. In January and April, Montalvo Center for the Arts will present the Afiara Quartet in two all-Shostakovich concerts that accompany Robert Greenberg’s witty and insightful lectures and, in March, the quartet continues its work with concerts and outreach presentations at the Lake Tahoe Music Festival.

The Afiaras pursue new music with thirst. Under the auspices of the American Composers Forum and the Jerome Foundation, they will give the world premiere of Huck Hodge’s String Quartet No. 1 in New York next February. To date, the quartet has given the world premiere of Brett Abigana’s Une Grande Messe in San Francisco, the East Coast premiere of Peteris Vasks’ Fourth String Quartet in New York, and Jason Bush’s string quartet “Visions”, which is dedicated to and written for the Afiara String Quartet, received its world premiere in San Francisco. Finally, in collaboration with timpanist Louis Siu, they commissioned and premiered new chamber music repertoire for string quartet and the tenor timpani, resulting in two works by Alain Chiu and Winton White.

The Afiara String Quartet takes its name from the Spanish fiar, meaning “to trust”. It has been said that chamber music is a conversation between friends. Within the support of friendship, the Afiaras found that trusting each other, in rehearsal and on stage, was vital to the depth and joy of their music-making. The Afiara Quartet is committed to education, sharing their music with those less fortunate, and connecting to audiences on different levels. They combine urban elements to their outreach and make unlikely connections in their presentations by coupling together Haydn and hip-hop, often to the glee of students and enthusiastic amusement of adults. They collaborate and perform with the rap group Blunt Delphix. Along with their studies with the Alexander String Quartet, the Afiaras have worked with the Kronos Quartet, Bonnie Hampton, and Robert Mann, and at the San Francisco Conservatory with Paul Hersh, Mark Sokol, and Ian Swensen.

Road to Banff at CBC: www.cbc.ca/radio2/feature-roadtobanff.html