Miró Quartet

The Miró Quartet is one of America’s most celebrated and dedicated string quartets, labeled as "furiously committed” (New Yorker) and noted for its "exceptional tonal focus and interpretive intensity” (Cleveland Plain Dealer). For over twenty-five years the quartet has performed throughout the world on the most prestigious concert stages, earning accolades from critics and audiences alike. Based in Austin, TX, and thriving on the area’s storied music scene, the Miró takes pride in finding new ways to communicate with audiences of all backgrounds while cultivating the longstanding tradition of chamber music.

For the 2021-22 season, the Miró premieres Microfictions, written for them by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Caroline Shaw, commissioned by Carnegie Hall, Shriver Hall, La Jolla Music Society, Premiere Performances (Hong Kong), and Chamber Music Houston. The quartet is also partnering with renowned soprano Karen Slack in a new program exploring the works of Florence Price and Margaret Bonds. The Miró celebrated its 25th anniversary in the 2020 season by performing a wide range of repertoire that pays homage to the legacy of the string quartet and also looks to the future of chamber music and string quartet playing in the U.S. In 2020, in honor of the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth at the start of the pandemic, the quartet undertook a remarkable project during which they broadcast live performances of the composer’s complete string quartets remotely from venues throughout Austin for the Orcas Island Chamber Music Festival and for audiences around the world.

Formed in 1995, the Miró Quartet was awarded first prize at several national and international competitions including the Banff International String Quartet Competition and the Naumburg Chamber Music Competition. Deeply committed to music education, members of the quartet have given master classes at universities and conservatories throughout the world, and since 2003, the Miró has served as the quartet-in-residence at the University of Texas at Austin Sarah and Ernest Butler School of Music. In 2005, the quartet became the first ensemble ever to be awarded the coveted Avery Fisher Career Grant. Having released many celebrated recordings, the Miró recently produced an Emmy Award-winning multimedia project titled Transcendence. A work with visual and audio elements, Transcendence encompasses philanthropy and documentary filmmaking and is centered around a performance of Franz Schubert’s Quartet in G major on rare Stradivarius instruments. The Miró records independently and makes its music available on a global scale. The Miró concluded its recording cycle of Beethoven’s string quartets with the release of a complete box set on Pentatone in 2019. The ensemble began this recording project in 2005. The finished cycle represents not only Beethoven’s journey as a composer, but also a 14-year journey for the quartet.

The Miró Quartet took its name and inspiration from Spanish artist Joan Miró, whose Surrealist works, which draw from the realm of memory, dreams, and imaginative fantasy, are some of the most groundbreaking, influential, and admired of the 20th century.