The Orion String Quartet is one of the most sought-after ensembles in the United States. Since its inception, the Quartet has been consistently praised for the fresh perspective and individuality it brings to performances, offering diverse programs that juxtapose classic works of the standard quartet literature with masterworks by living composers. They remain on the cutting edge of programming with their wide-ranging commissions from composers Chick Corea, David Del Tredici, Alexander Goehr, John Harbison, Leon Kirchner, Marc Neikrug, Lowell Libermann, Peter Lieberson and Wynton Marsalis, and enjoy a creative partnership with the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company. With over fifty performances each year, the members of the Orion String Quartet - violinists Daniel Phillips and Todd Phillips (brothers who share the first violin chair equally), violist Steven Tenenbom and cellist Timothy Eddy - have worked closely with such legendary figures as Pablo Casals, Rudolf Serkin, Isaac Stern, Pinchas Zukerman, Peter Serkin, members of TASHI and the Beaux Arts Trio, as well as the Budapest, Végh, Galimir and Guarneri String Quartets. The Orion serves as Artist Members of Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and Quartet-in-Residence at New York's Mannes College of Music.
Following numerous summer performances at the Chamber Music Northwest, Music @ Menlo and Santa Fe Chamber Music Festivals the Orion String Quartet begins a robust 2011-2012 season. Fall and spring performances presented by the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center feature complementary selections of quartets by Haydn and Mozart and quintets by Weber, Neikrug and Mozart with the estimable clarinetist David Shifrin. In November the Orion returns to Washington DC’s Kennedy Center and collaborates once again with Mr. Shifrin in Jordan Hall as part of the Celebrity Series of Boston. Additional season highlights include two performances of Bach’s Art of the Fugue as a special full-evening work with the quintet Windscape, a concert with violist Ida Kavafian presented by the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society and three programs of Brahms’ quartets and quintets as part the 35-concert series, Brahms Unwrapped, at Kings Place in London. The Orion are also presented in concerts by South Mountain Concerts, Syracuse Friends of Chamber Music, Mercer University, Pittsburgh Chamber Music Society, People’s Symphony Concerts and Montgomery Chamber Music.
Heard on National Public Radio's Performance Today, the Orion has also appeared on PBS's Live from Lincoln Center, A&E's Breakfast with the Arts, and three times on ABC-TV's Good Morning America. In October 2004, they participated in the first WNYC Radio collaboration with BBC World Service's popular syndicated program, Music Party.
Formed in 1987, the Quartet chose its name from the Orion constellation as a metaphor for the unique personality each musician brings to the group in its collective pursuit of the highest musical ideals.
Pittsburgh Chamber Music Society
