The Penderecki String Quartet was formed in Poland in 1986 and has become one of the most celebrated chamber ensembles of their generation. Their recent schedule has included concerts in New York, Amsterdam, St. Petersburg, Paris, Los Angeles, Atlanta, as well as appearances at international festivals in Poland, Lithuania, Italy, Venezuela, and China. The PSQ champions music of our time, performing a wide range of repertoire from Haydn to Zappa as well as premiering over 100 new works to date. Described by Fanfare Magazine as “an ensemble of formidable power and keen musical sensitivity”, the PSQ’s diverse discography includes the chamber music of Brahms and Shostakovich (Eclectra and Marquis labels) and the recently released Bartok cycle. They enter their 16th year as Quartet-in-Residence at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Canada.

A native of Toronto, violinist Jeremy Bell has performed as soloist with the Toronto Symphony, the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, the CBC Vancouver Orchestra, the Stony Brook Graduate Symphony, the Amadeus Ensemble, the Nota Bene Period Orchestra and in Arraymusic’s performance art productions. As a concertmaster and associate concertmaster, he has made many appearances with the Kitchener- Waterloo Symphony, the New Zealand National Symphony, the Canadian Opera Company and as principal violist with Les Violons du Roy in Quebec City.

He earned a B. Mus degree from the University of Toronto, and from the State University of New York at Stony Brook, he received his Masters and Doctor of Music. Dr. Bell is a recipient of the Ontario Arts Council’s Chalmers Fund Training Grant and a prize winner in the Eckhardt-Grammatté National competition. He has studied with David Zafer, George Neikrug, Joyce Robbins, Metro Kozak and with members of the Orford, Juilliard, Tokyo, and Orion string quartets.

As a member of the Penderecki String Quartet, Dr. Bell is Artist-in-Residence at Wilfrid Laurier University where he teaches violin and chamber music. Described by the Toronto Star as a violinist who ‘agitates in the most intelligent and persuasive manner’, Dr. Bell has performed extensively in North America and Europe, recently performing at Wieczory Arsenale Festival in Poland, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Is Arti Festival in Lithuania, State Museum of Music in St. Petersburg, Bing Theatre in Los Angeles, Jane Mallet Theatre in Toronto, Paris University 8, Miller Theatre New York City, Georgia State in Atlanta, Casalmaggiore and Rive-Gauche Festivals in Italy, Tovar Festival Venezuela, the Hong Kong Academy, the Shanghai Conservatory and the Chan Centre in Vancouver. Bell has been broadcast on CBC, NPR (USA), RNE (Spain) and NPS (Netherlands) radio and has recorded for CRI, Eclectra, CMC and CBC labels.

From 2000-2007, Bell served as the artistic director of NUMUS Inc., a contemporary music organisation in Kitchener-Waterloo where he created several multi-media events at the Perimeter Institute and with Dancetheatre David Earle. Dr. Bell plays an A.S. Bernadel violin (1854).