Graduate Ensembles
Abeo Quartet: Felix Mendelssohn | String Quartet No. 2 in A minor, Op. 13: youtube.com/watch?v=ZxJfZQW0Jb8
Graduate Ensembles
School of Music graduate chamber ensembles offer a focused, collaborative experience in chamber music study.
The chamber music program combines individual musical virtuosity with the shared spirit of ensemble playing, building flexibility, teamwork, leadership, communication and entrepreneurial skills for students.
The first cohort of the Graduate String Quartet Assistantship matriculates in the fall of 2021, recruited, coached and mentored by the Calidore String Quartet in their first semester as faculty in the School of Music. The Calidores have selected the Abeo Quartet as the first Graduate String Quartet at UD. Abeo was formed in 2018 while undergraduates at The Juilliard School. They won the silver medal at the 2019 Fischoff International Chamber Music Competition, the nation's largest chamber music competition, and have been featured in New York at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Alice Tully Hall and on WQXR's Midday Masterpieces.
The Graduate Brass Quintet is the premier brass quintet at The University of Delaware. Made up of all performance graduate students, the group seeks to perform a diverse range of music from classical Renaissance music to modern popular music. The Brass Quintet also prides itself on its ability to adapt while maintaining the highest level of performance.
The award winning Graduate Percussion Group is a fully funded fellowship program. Each member is awarded a fellowship for their studies at UD by co-directing and performing in this ensemble. Coached and mentored by the faculty ensemble in residence (Quey Percussion Duo), the Graduate Percussion Group is actively engaged in artistic creativity on a daily basis through rehearsing, performing, and administration of a self-sustaining ensemble that straddles the line between collegiate and professional performing experiences.
The Graduate Percussion Group presents regular programs throughout the year in addition to numerous projects related to audio recording, video production, outreach, recruiting, competitions, and composer-performer experiences. Graduate Percussion Group members also often perform side-by-side with guest and faculty artists.In addition to performances, as a self-sustaining ensemble, each student will assume administrative roles to guarantee the success of the ensemble such as scheduling, programming, recruiting, outreach, marketing and promotion, and social media management to name a few.
The Easterlies are the graduate woodwind quintet in residence at the University of Delaware School of Music. Their name is inspired by easterly winds in weather and climate—winds that originate in the east and blow elsewhere. They drew this unique parallel from their unification and inevitable growth in a commonly ‘east’ location to their members. Relating their wind quintet name to a literal category of wind felt fitting.
The Easterlies have been accepted as one of 7 chamber music groups across the country to compete at the 2024 Music Teachers National Association Chamber Music Wind Competition in Atlanta, GA, and were also selected to perform in the 2024 Mid Atlantic Flute Convention in Herndon, VA. Additionally, as a part of their educational outreach initiative, they partner up with local high schools in the area to teach young musicians about chamber music
