VPA’s Stinson joins critically acclaimed Lark Chamber Artists/Lark Quartet

Caroline Stinson, a prize-winning cellist and instructor of cello and chamber music coordinator in the Rose, Jules R. and Stanford S. Setnor School of Music in Syracuse University’s College of Visual and Performing Arts, has joined the critically acclaimed Lark Chamber Artists (LCA) and its core ensemble, the world-renowned Lark Quartet.

Based in New York City, LCA encompasses a variety of musician combinations and musical genres. Its programs span a broad range of styles that feature elements of world music from Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East, as well as jazz, minimalism, traditional Western chamber music and the Baroque.

The Lark Quartet has earned numerous international awards, including the Naumburg and Shostakovich prizes, and has performed at many of the world’s great cultural centers, including Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center in New York City; the Kennedy Center and Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.; the Herkulessaal in Munich; L’Opéra de la Bastille in Paris; London’s Wigmore Hall; and the Tonhalle in Zurich.

The quartet will be in residence at the Setnor School November 5–6. Details on public performances during this residency will be announced this fall. Major funding for the residency is provided by the Mellon Central New York Humanities Corridor, an Andrew W. Mellon foundation initiative. Visit http://syracusehumanities.org for more information.

The quartet will also perform this season in San Antonio, Texas; at Stanford University; and at Merkin Hall in New York City, where it will premiere Pulitzer Prize-winner Paul Moravec’s new piano quintet with pianist Jeremy Denk. For more information about LCA and the Lark Quartet, visit http://www.larkchamberartists.com/.

Winner of the 2007 J.B. Watkins Prize from the Canada Council for the Arts, Stinson lives in New York City and appears throughout Canada, the United States and Europe as a soloist and chamber music artist. Known for her expressive and personal interpretation of new works, she is sought after for performances of both traditional and contemporary repertoire. As an advocate of new music—and member of the Cassatt Quartet from 2000–03—she has worked with composers John Harbison, George Rochberg, Steven Stucky and Andrew Waggoner and has recorded music both old and new for Albany, Koch and Naxos. She continues to serve as a member of CELLO, Open End and Contrasts. In addition to teaching at the Setnor School she is an assistant to Joel Krosnick at the Juilliard School. For more information about Stinson, visit http://www.carolinestinson.com.

VPA is committed to the education of cultural leaders who will engage and inspire audiences through performance, visual art, design, scholarship and commentary. The college provides the tools for self-discovery and risk-taking in an environment that thrives on critical thought and action. Learn more at http://vpa.syr.edu.