Ulysses Quartet

Jessie Montgomery (b. 1982): Voodoo Dolls Seth Grosshandler (b. 1957): Dances for String Quartet I. Prelude II. Passacaglia III. Corrente IV. Minuet V. Rigaudon Christina Bouey (b. 1999): Soul Scott Joplin (1868-1917) arr. Banerdt: Selected Rags Rhiannon Giddens (b. 1977): At the Purchaser’s Option Charles Ives (1874-1954): String Quartet No. 1 From the Salvation Army I. Chorale II. Prelude III. Offertory IV. Postlude Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990), arr. Bouey: Themes from West Side Story Ulysses Quartet makes its first Phillips Music appearance with a program that moves across American musical traditions, from ragtime and folk song to contemporary compositions. The ensemble opens with Jessie Montgomery’s Voodoo Dolls and music by the quartet’s own Christina Bouey. Other highlights also include tunes by the “King of Ragtime” Scott Joplin, an arrangement of folk artist Rhiannon Giddens’s At the Purchaser’s Option, and modernist Charles Ives’s first string quartet before ending with themes from Leonard Bernstein’s classic West Side Story score. This performance is generously sponsored by Martha R. Johnston. Performers Christina Bouey, violin Rhiannon Banerdt, violin Julian Seney, viola Grace Ho, cello The Ulysses Quartet has been praised for their “textural versatility,” “grave beauty” and “the kind of chemistry many quartets long for, but rarely achieve” (The Strad), as well as their “avid enthusiasm ... [with] chops to back up their passion” (San Diego Story), “delivered with a blend of exuberance and polished artistry” (The Buffalo News). The quartet “promise to bring as much sophistication, imagination and vitality to Beethoven’s other quartets as they will to music by a panoply of composers from long ago and today” (Gramophone). Founded in the summer of 2015, the group won the grand prize and gold medal in the senior string division of the 2016 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition and first prize in the 2018 Schoenfeld International String Competition. In 2017, the quartet finished first in the American Prize and won second prize at the Osaka International Chamber Music Competition. They were winners of the Vietnam International Music Competition in 2019. Ulysses garnered a career development grant in the 2016 Banff International String Quartet Competition. The quartet’s members hail from Canada, the United States and Taiwan. They have performed in such prestigious halls as Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall, the Harbin Grand Theatre, Jordan Hall, and the Taiwan National Recital Hall. Performance highlights have included their debut at Alice Tully Hall along with appearances at the Chautauqua Institution (NY), Sociedad Filarmónica de Bilbao (Spain), Ciclo de Cámara y Solistas in Salamanca, the Picasso Museum in Málaga, Teatro Mayor Julio Mario Santo Domingo in Bogotá, Highlands Cashiers Festival (NC), Music Mountain (CT) with pianist Tanya Bannister, Chelsea Music Festival and PS21 (NY), National Gallery of Art (DC), Jasper Arts Center (IN), and San Juan Chamber Music Festival (CO). Past seasons featured their Mexico City debut at UNAM, along with performances for Sociedad Filarmónica de Lima, Gretna Music, Yale School of Music with guitarist Ben Verdery, Kansas City Friends of Chamber Music, Fundación Juan March (Madrid), Sociedad Filarmonica de Vigo, Basel Kammermusik, and Chamber Music Society of Utica (NY). Other notable engagements have included the Buffalo Chamber Music Society, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Premiere Performances Hong Kong, National Arts Centre (Ottawa), and Cemal Reşit Rey Concert Hall (Istanbul). From 2023 to 2025, the Ulysses Quartet was GBH Music’s first-ever quartet in residence, a partnership made possible by a generous contribution from the Mattina R. Proctor Foundation. Visiting residencies in recent seasons have included Louisiana State University, Ithaca College, Syracuse University, and Bucknell University. At Juilliard from 2019 to 2022, they were the Lisa Arnhold Fellows, serving as the school’s Graduate Resident String Quartet for three years, and recipients of a Benzaquen Career Advancement Grant. From 2016 to 2019, Ulysses was in residence at the Louis Moreau Institute in New Orleans, working with composer Morris Rosenzweig. Ulysses recently released their debut album, “Shades of Romani Folklore,” on the Navona label. The quartet also has two new collaborative albums out: “Sea Change Quartets” by Grammy-nominated composer Joseph Summer, and “A Giant Beside You” with guitarist Benjamin Verdery. They also appear on Clovis Nicolas’s album “The Contrapuntist.” The Ulysses Quartet believes intensely in the power of music to inspire, enlighten and bring people together. This is the guiding principle of the Ulysses Quartet Foundation, dedicated to the performance and promotion of classical music of the past and present day to benefit the broadest possible audience of music lovers and potential music lovers by expanding their understanding and app