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HAO ZHOU
VIANO STRING QUARTET
Praised for their “huge range of dynamics, massive sound and spontaneity” (American Record Guide), the Viano String Quartet are First Prize winners of the 2019 Banff International String Quartet Competition. Formed in 2015 at the Colburn Conservatory of Music in Los Angeles, where they are Ensemble in Residence through the 2020-21 season, the quartet has performed in venues such as Wigmore Hall, Segerstrom Center for the Arts, SOKA Performing Arts Center, and the Cerritos Center for Performing Arts.
During the 2019-20 season, the Viano performs on three continents, making debuts in Beijing, Berlin, Brussels, New York City and Vancouver. The quartet also gives several performances in Los Angeles at Boston Court, the Music Guild, and Zipper Hall and records for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
The Viano String Quartet has performed with world class musicians such as pianists Emanuel Ax and Elisso Virsaladze, violist Paul Coletti, violinist Martin Beaver and
vocalist Hila Plitmann. They have performed in Los Angeles for the South Bay Chamber Music Society and the Colburn Chamber Music Society; in Marquette, Michigan for the Siril Concert Series; and with NPR host Rob Kapilow on his “What Makes it Great?” Series.
The quartet received the Grand Prize at the 2019 ENKOR International Music Competition and second prize at the 2019 Yellow Springs Chamber Music Competition. At the 2018 Wigmore Hall International String Quartet Competition they received Third Prize, the Haydn Prize for the best performance of a Haydn quartet, and the Sidney Griller Award for the best performance of the compulsory work, Thomas Ades’ “The Four Quarters”. They received the Silver Medal at the 2018 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition and Third Prize at the 9th Osaka International Chamber Music Competition in 2017.
Committed to engaging with children and communities outside the concert hall, the Viano String Quartet has given presentations for school children and students of all ages through residencies in Bellingham, Washington—the “Play it Forward” residency, a collaboration between the Bellingham
Festival of Music and the Whatcom Symphony to reach school children in the northern Washington State area—Northern Michigan University, and the Santa Monica Conservatory. In 2019 they gave multiple performances of “Over the Top”, a Musical Encounter Interactive presentation they scripted, developed and performed at the Colburn School for inner city school children.
The Vianos work primarily with members of the Colburn School faculty, including Martin Beaver, Scott St. John, Clive Greensmith, Paul Coletti and Fabio Bidini. They have received coachings from artists such as David Finckel, Gary Hoffman, Arnold Steinhardt, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, and members of the Alban Berg, Brentano, Emerson, Miró, Shanghai, St. Lawrence, and Takács String Quartets. They have attended the St. Lawrence String Quartet Seminar, and the Norfolk and MISQA summer festivals.
The name “Viano” was created to describe the four individual instruments in a string quartet interacting as one. Each of the four instruments begins with the letter “v”, and like a piano, all the strings together play both harmony and melody, creating a unified instrument called the “Viano”.