BORROMEO STRING QUARTET

Nicholas Kitchen, violin | Kristopher Tong, violin | Melisssa Reardon, viola | Yeesun Kim, cello
Admired and sought after for both its fresh interpretations of the classical music canon and its championing of works by 20th and 21st century composers, the Borromeo Quartet has been hailed for its “edge-of-the-seat performances,” by The Boston Globe, which called it “simply the best.” Inspiring audiences for more than 25 years, the Borromeo continues to be a pioneer in its use of technology, and has the trailblazing distinction of being the first string quartet to utilize laptop computers on the concert stage. In 2003 the Borromeo became the first classical ensemble to make its own live concert recordings and videos.

Passionate educators, the BSQ has been ensemble-in-residence at the New England Conservatory and Taos School of Music, both for 25 years, and has, for over two decades, enjoyed a long-term relationship with the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum where it continues to regularly appear. Currently, it is quartet-in-residence at the Heifetz International Music Institute, where first violinist Nicholas Kitchen is artistic director.

The BSQ’s is renowned for its presentation of the cycle of Bartók String Quartets (rediscovered alternate movements Béla Bartók drafted for his six Quartets) as well as its dramatic discoveries within the manuscripts of the Beethoven Quartets.  The ensemble continues to perform violinist Nicholas Kitchen’s transcriptions of Bach’s Goldberg Variations and the Well-Tempered Clavier Bk. I, the latter of which the BSQ recently released an acclaimed premiere recording which hit the billboard charts.

“A remarkably accomplished string quartet, not simply for its high technical polish and refined tone, but more importantly for the searching musical insights it brings.” – The Chicago Tribune

DAVID DEVEAU, piano

Internationally acclaimed for his expressive and poetic interpretations of piano repertoire ranging from Haydn to the present, David Deveau has earned consistent accolades from major publications, including The New York Times, The Boston Globe, Gramophone magazine and Beijing’s China Daily, among many others. He returns to perform for the second time after retiring from 23 years as Artistic Director of the Rockport Chamber Music Festival.

Having performed with major orchestras throughout the Americas, Mr. Deveau made several tours of Asia and appeared with many of Boston’s most prestigious ensembles including the Boston Pops, the Handel and Haydn Society, Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra and the Boston Philharmonic. A regular chamber music collaborator, he has performed with members of the Juilliard, Jupiter, Borromeo, Kronos, Brentano and St. Lawrence string quartets, among others; and, for over 20 years, he has regularly collaborated with clarinet virtuoso Richard Stoltzman and toured with violinists Andrés Cárdenes, Malcolm Lowe and William Preucil. He has performed at such major festivals as Tanglewood, Caramoor, Wolf Trap and Mainly Mozart. In 2021, he released his latest recording of Schubert Sonatas on Steinway & Sons.

A longtime member of the MIT music faculty until his retirement, Deveau is a graduate of the New England Conservatory and The Juilliard School.

BARRY SHIFFMAN, viola

Artistic director of the Rockport Chamber Music Festival and classical music at Rockport Music, internationally acclaimed violinist and violist Barry Shiffman is well-respected as a musician, educator and administrator. He was co-founder of the St. Lawrence String Quartet (SLSQ) and served as artist-in- residence at Stanford University (1998-2006) and as visiting artist at the University of Toronto (1995-2006).  He also serves as Executive Director of the Banff International String Quartet Competition.

Since 2010, he has been at The Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, as both Associate Dean and Director of Chamber Music at the Glenn Gould School and Dean of the Phil and Eli Taylor Performance Academy for Young Artists. In addition to his work at Banff Centre and The Royal Conservatory, Shiffman has served as Executive Artistic Director of Vancouver’s Music in the Morning Concerts since 2009.

He is the recipient of the Nadia Boulanger Prize for Excellence in the Art of Teaching awarded by the Longy School of Cambridge, Massachusetts, and received an honorary doctorate from the University of Calgary. His formal studies were at the Royal Conservatory in Toronto, University of Toronto, Utrecht Conservatory, Hartt School of Music, Juilliard School and Yale University.

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