Leah Asher, violin

Violinist/violist, composer, and visual artist Leah Asher is an avid performer of contemporary music and creator of new artistic works. Leah is a member of The Rhythm Method string quartet, the violin-piano duo Aether Eos, and co-creator of the series ‘Meaningless Work’ with Nicolee Kuester. She has been featured as a concerto soloist with NOSO Sinfoniettaen and Oberlin’s Contemporary Music Ensemble. Leah formerly served as solo violist of NOSO Sinfoniettaen and co-principal viola of the Arctic Philharmonic. She regularly performs with other New York-based ensembles such as ICE, Talea ensemble, and Shattered Glass. As a composer, Leah has been commissioned by ensembles including andPlay, Chartreuse, Periapsis, NorthArc Percussion Group, The Great Learning Orchestra, Du.0, and solo artists such as Meaghan Burke, Tristan McKay, and Jennifer Torrence. Leah released her debut solo album, Retreat into Afters, on SCRIPTS records in 2018. 

www.leahasher.com 

Marina Kifferstein, violin

Praised as "fearless" (The Boston Globe) and "stunning" (The Brooklyn Rail), Marina Kifferstein is a violinist and composer based in NYC. She is a founding member of The Rhythm Method string quartet and TAK ensemble, and regularly appears as guest artist with ensembles including the International Contemporary Ensemble, Talea Ensemble, and the Wet Ink Ensemble. A strong advocate for contemporary music, she has premiered hundreds of new works, and collaborated closely with a wide range of composers from across the globe. She is a frequent guest artist at the Lucerne Festival in Switzerland, and often tours internationally; recent festival engagements include the Musiikin aika festival (Finland) and the Festival Musiques démeusurées (France). She is on violin faculty at the United Nations International School in New York City, the Composers Conference, Point Counterpoint, and the Lucerne Festival Academy, and has led masterclasses and workshops at universities including Columbia University, New York University, Zurich Hochschule der Künste, and others. Marina holds a BM (violin) and a BA (English) from Oberlin College and Conservatory, an MM (contemporary performance) from the Manhattan School of Music, and is currently a DMA candidate (violin) at the CUNY Graduate Center. 

Carrie Frey, viola

Carrie Frey is a Brooklyn-based violist, improviser, and composer who “conjures an inviting warmth that leaves her virtuosity on the margins, placing the focus on her humanity (Bandcamp Daily).” An enthusiastic proponent of new music, she has premiered over 300 works by composers including Hannah Kendall, Matthew Aucoin, Wadada Leo Smith, Paul Pinto, George Lewis, inti figgis-vizueta, Kate Soper, Alex Mincek, Sam Pluta, and Peter Eötvös. The violist of the Rhythm Method (“a group of individuals with distinct compositional voices and a collective vision for the future of the string quartet” - ICIYL), Frey also appears regularly with New York’s most notable contemporary ensembles, including AMOC*, Talea, Wet Ink Large Ensemble, and the International Contemporary Ensemble. Her own compositions, described as “an agonizingly beautiful meditation on the Romantic style” (I Care if You Listen), have been performed by the Rhythm Method, RE:duo, Arco Belo, Leah Asher, Adrianne Munden-Dixon, and Kal Sugatski. Her debut sonata album, The Grey Light of Day (2016), featured pianist Robert Fleitz, and her first solo album, Seagrass, was released in 2023 on Gold Bolus. 

www.carriefrey.com 

Meaghan Burke, cello

Praised for her "alarming tour de force intensity," (The Examiner) Meaghan Burke is equally at home interpreting a wide array of contemporary music, improvising freely, or performing her own grunge-cabaret songs. Meaghan is a founding member of the contemporary, feminist string quartet The Rhythm Method, the bi-continental performance trio Dead Language, and avant-grunge band Forever House. Taking a particular interest in creative music, non-standard notation, and sound art, Meaghan has worked closely with artists such as Muhal Richard Abrams, Alvin Singleton,  Butch Morris, John Zorn, Leah Asher, and Bernd Klug. She has been a guest artist with Fred Sherry, Lucy Shelton, Greg Saunier, and the FLUX Quartet (among many others), and has performed under Sir Simon Rattle and Peter Eötvös as a member of the Lucerne Festival Academy. Meaghan will release her second solo album, "Creature Comforts" (recorded and produced in New York and Vienna) this May, and her English translation of Peter Ablinger's Collected Writings (from the original German) will be published by Kehrer Verlag next fall.