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Aeolus Quartet Appoints New First Violinist
For Immediate Release
Aeolus Quartet names Isabelle Durenberger First Violinist as founding member Nicholas Tavani announces departure.
New York City - January 2nd, 2025
The Aeolus Quartet has announced the appointment of Isabelle Durrenberger to the ensemble. Durrenberger assumes the role of first violinist from founding member Nicholas Tavani, who along with his wife Alexandra T Bryant (composer) have both accepted college teaching positions in South Florida. Tavani looks forward to performing, teaching, and spending time with his family.
Durrenberger joins violinist Rachel Shapiro, violist Caitlin Lynch, and cellist Jia Kim in the Aeolus Quartet.
“We are thrilled to welcome Isabelle to the group. A longtime friend of the quartet, Isabelle commands a tremendous power of expression and a beautiful innate sense of musicality. We could not be more excited for this new chapter and for the musical journey ahead,” the quartet commented.
American violinist Isabelle Ai Durrenberger is praised for her imaginative, striking performances and her ability to communicate with sincere artistry. Currently based in New York City, Isabelle is a 2023-25 fellow of Carnegie Hall’s renowned Ensemble Connect program.
An avid chamber musician, Isabelle is recognized nationally for her unique collaborative instincts. Her 2024-25 season features solo and collaborative invitations including performances with the Boston Chamber Music Society, Jupiter Chamber Players (NYC), Orpheus Chamber Orchestra in Carnegie Hall (NYC), The Knights (NYC), and the Grammy-nominated conductorless chamber orchestra, A Far Cry (Boston).
In 2022, she completed her graduate studies at the New England Conservatory in Boston with Soovin Kim and Don Weilerstein. Isabelle spent recent summers making chamber music at the Marlboro Music Festival, Lake Champlain Chamber Music Festival, and Four Seasons Spring Workshop.
Isabelle also enjoys exploring music through teaching: she has a private violin studio in New York City and serves on the violin faculty at the New England Conservatory Preparatory School in Boston where she teaches violin lessons and coaches chamber music.
The members of the Aeolus Quartet thank Tavani for 16 years of music-making, remarking “We send Nick off with infinite love and deep gratitude for the courageous vision and generous spirit he helped to instill in the quartet from the very beginning. As a founding member of the quartet, his myriad contributions are truly immeasurable, and will continue to resonate long after his departure. He is and always will be a treasured friend and member of the Aeolus family.”
With performances acclaimed for both “high-octane” excitement (Strad) and “dusky lyricism” (New York Times), the Aeolus Quartet has been awarded prizes at nearly every major competition in the US and performed across the globe with showings “worthy of a major-league quartet” (Dallas Morning News). Originally formed in 2008 at The Cleveland Institute of Music, the Aeolus Quartet has performed in venues ranging from the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and Lincoln Center’s Great Performer Series to Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, to Dupont Underground, a subterranean streetcar station in DC’s Dupont Circle. They were the 2013-2015 Juilliard Graduate Resident String Quartet and are currently Quartet-in-Residence at Musica Viva NY.
Aeolus Quartet will perform at Friends of Chamber Music Reading in Pennsylvania on February 21st, 2025 and Friends of Classical Music in Jacksonville, OR on March 30th, 2025.
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Contact:
Rachel Shapiro, Aeolus Quartet
610-763-6871
@aeolusquartet
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