Emily Carr String Quartet

The Emily Carr String Quartet–a professional string quartet comprised of musicians that perform with the Victoria Symphony Orchestra–began in 2006 with founding violinists Müge Büyükçelen and Cory Balzer, violist Mieka Kohut, and cellist Alasdair Money.

Since its debut in Victoria's Alix Goolden Hall, the Emily Carr String Quartet has gone on to performances in the United States, Europe and Asia. The group recently performed in Turkey, participating in the Ankara Music Festival's 100th Anniversary of the birth of Turkish composer Adnan Saygun. Audiences and musicians praised the quartet's interpretation of Saygun's Third String Quartet.

In 2006 the quartet received intense coaching with the St. Lawrence String Quartet while attending their seminar at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California. They joined with Australia's Tinally String Quartet and South Africa's Sontonga String Quartet as featured performers in the seminar's International String Quartet Showcase.

Constantly searching for a more diverse concert experience, the quartet launched a successful series at Emily Carr House entitled “Musical Bouquets for Emily.” Violist M. Kohut selected readings from Emily Carr's journal to complement the musical works by Haydn, Mozart and Shostakovich performed by the quartet. Jan Ross (curator for Emily Carr House) read the selected readings. The series was a sold-out success and the quartet looks forward to continuing it.

In 2007 the quartet was featured as part of the Victoria Symphony Orchestra's New Currents Festival, performing John Tavener's Hidden Treasure. They also performed on the Winter Music Series in Tofino, BC.

The Emily Carr String Quartet is inspired by Emily Carr's eclectic life. Her diverse body of artwork represents to them not only an artist's experience of life in Victoria, but also the spirit of the West coast of Canada. The quartet thanks Emily Carr House for the honour of bearing her name.