Diabelli String Quartet

After a highly acclaimed performance of the Brahms Quintet in B Minor, Op. 115 with clarinetist Jonathan Cohler at the Longy School's Pickman Hall last summer, the Boston Globe hailed their playing as "supercharged, clear-headed, yet soulful."

Formed in 1999, the Diabelli String Quartet has already established itself on the chamber music scene in Canada and the United States. The Diabelli Quartet was the quartet-in-residence from August to December 2000 at the Shaw Festival in Ontario, in January 2001, they began an intensive two-year program with the Emerson String Quartet at the Hartt School of Music, and in June 2001 they will again be in residence at International Clarinet Connection 2001 held at the Longy School of Music in Cambridge.

A few years ago, Renée-Paule Gauthier was listed 'among the best upcoming violinists' by Henry Roth in his survey of violinists of the 20th century Violin Virtuosos. She has won numerous competition first prizes such as the Canadian Music Competition and the Canadian Music Festival and performed as a soloist with many orchestras in her native Quebec. Her teachers have included Andrèe Azar at the Conservatoire de Chicoutimi, Jean-François Rivest at l'Universitè de Montrèal, and Zvi Zeitlin at the Eastman School of Music.

Violinist Annie Trèpanier studied chamber music with members of the Orion, Fine Arts, Orford and Emerson String Quartets. She studied violin with Denise Lupien at McGill University in Montreal, received a Masters from the University of Ottawa where she worked with Claude Richard, and completed the Artist Diploma at the Hartt School where her teachers were Philip Setzer and Teri Einfeldt. Ms. Trèpanier is currently also the violinist of the Avery Trio.

In 1997, Steve Larson won second prize at the Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition, in the United Kingdom, receiving the special award for his performance of the commissioned work. He has been praised by the Montreal Gazette for his 'singing tone, eloquent phrasing, expressive dynamics and flawless intonation.' He studied violin with Elman Lowe, Howard Leyton-Brown, and Mauricio Fuks, and viola with Jutta Puchhammer and Steve Tenenbom. Currently, Mr. Larson is also the violist of the Adaskin String Trio, and he teaches viola and chamber music at the Hartt School of Music.

Cellist Brian Snow studied with Alan Harris at the Eastman School, Dr. Terry King at the Longy School of Music and Dennis Parker at Louisiana State University. He has performed as a soloist with the Crescent City Symphony of New Orleans and with the Longy Chamber Orchestra as a winner of the Longy Concerto Competition. He has received a fellowship from the Aspen Festival and has appeared at the Park City International Music Festival and the Round Top Festival in Texas.