Described by the Boston Musical Intelligencer as “astonishing,” Boston-based Semiosis Quartet is quickly gaining a reputation as a dynamic ensemble dedicated to presenting the string quartet repertoire of the 20th and 21st centuries.

In August 2019, Semiosis appeared at Tanglewood with Bill Barclay and Concert Theatre Works in the initial production of The Chevalier, featuring the music of Joseph Bologne, the  Chevalier de Saint-Georges. They have collaborated in live and virtual performances with Nia Imani Franklin, Ogni Suono, Goethe Institut Boston, Infrequent Seams, and others. As the recipient of a grant from the American Music Project, the quartet presented a program of American women composers including Florence Price, Ruth Crawford Seeger, Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, Shelley Washington, and Caroline Shaw. Semiosis continually seeks to expand the quartet repertoire, and has commissioned and premiered works by composers including Curtis Hughes, Aaron Jay Myers, Camila Agosto, and Angela Elizabeth Slater. 

The quartet has performed at venues and festivals including National Sawdust, St. Paul’s Chapel at Columbia University, Oh My Ears!, the International Alliance for Women in Music Conference, New Music Gathering, the Re:Sound New Music Festival in Cleveland, the Cortona Sessions for New Music, and the Deer Valley Music Festival. Other highlights of past seasons include appearances as part of the Equilibrium Concert Series, the Church of the Advent Library Concert Series, and August Noise JP. Deeply committed to music education, Semiosis is on the faculty at The Boston Conservatory at Berklee’s High School Composition Intensive, and has worked closely with student composers, musicians, and faculty at Tufts University, MIT, and Bowling Green State University.

The quartet’s name refers to the process of using a message or symbol to communicate. The study of this process crosses the boundaries of linguistics, anthropology, and biological sciences. Likewise, Semiosis Quartet demonstrates how the contemporary string quartet repertoire is a vehicle for a diverse collection of narratives from around the world.

current 12/22