Best Chamber Ensemble, Then and Now
Miró Quartet
In the eight years that it's been the string quartet in residence at the University of Texas' Butler School of Music, the Miró Quartet has proven itself an extraordinary addition to Austin's arts scene. The musicmaking and ensemble work among Daniel Ching, Joshua Gindele, John Largess, and Sandy Yamamoto has been stunning in its sophistication, intricacy, and intimacy, and they've been good enough to share it in concerts across the community as well as at the UT and with their student charges, such as the award-winning Aeolus Quartet. An era for the group may have ended with Yamamoto's retirement from Miró in May, but recent concerts with her successor, William Fedkenheuer, on second violin, have shown that the Miró's astonishing virtuosity and musical unity endures. In chamber music, these four are No. 1 – for the past, the present, and, no doubt, the future.
