Biography

The West End String Quartet came together in the fall of 2005 because of their shared passion for chamber music. Since then, WESQ has been entertaining audiences across New England with an exciting and varied repertoire of chamber music.  Current members are Jessica Meyer and Sarah Washburn, violins, John Biatowas, viola, and Carlynn Savot, cello.  

WESQ strives to bring new and uncommon repertoire to their concerts, pairing them with traditional works. Highlights of recent years include the culmination of the Ives Vocal Marathon Project and the premieres of James T. Lindsay's Second String Quartet and Dan Román’s Sonora Complexidad.  This spring, WESQ goes on tour with the modern opera company Rhymes With Opera.

Strong advocates of contemporary music, the quartet collaborated with Ruby Fulton in 2006 for the premiere of The Slow Revolution. Repeat performances of this work were sponsored by an Encore grant from the American Composers Forum. In the summer of 2007, the quartet performed at the Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival in Colorado as the festival's Young Artists Ensemble-in-Residence. This past summer, the quartet participated in the Professional Studies program at the Soundfest Chamber Music Festival, where they spent two weeks performing and coaching chamber music.

In past seasons, the quartet has performed at St. James's Episcopal Church in West Hartford, The Universalist Church of West Hartford, on the River Crossings Concert Series, and with the Arts Institute of Western Maine.   This year, the WESQ will be giving a series of chamber music seminars at The Hartt School Community Division.