Rockport Music presents Balourdet & Terra Quartets

The Balourdet Quartet and Terra String Quartet join forces with Artistic Director Barry Shiffman on viola for an expansive program featuring works by Borodin and Ravel, Shostakovich’s Octet, and the U.S. premiere of a work by Osvaldo Golijov. This collaboration brings together prizewinning ensembles for an evening of intensity, imagination, and bold collective artistry.

Program

BORODIN: String Quartet No 2
GOLIJOV: Tintype (US Premiere)
Intermission
RAVEL : String Quartet in F minor, M35
SHOSTAKOVICH : Two Pieces for Octet, Op. 11

BALOURDET QUARTET
Angela Bae, violin | Justin DeFilippis, violin | Benjamin Zannoni, viola | Russell Houston, cello

The Balourdet Quartet is acclaimed for its vibrant energy, fearless creativity, and masterful blend of technical precision and emotional depth, bringing fresh perspective to both classical masterworks and contemporary repertoire. The ensemble’s close musical rapport and willingness to take risks have earned major recognition, including an Avery Fisher Career Grant and Chamber Music America’s Cleveland Quartet Award in 2024. Performing more than seventy concerts per season, the Quartet has made notable debuts at Carnegie Hall and Wigmore Hall, and has premiered new works by Karim Al-Zand, Paul Novak, and Nicky Sohn, supported by grants from Chamber Music America and the Barlow Foundation.

Founded in 2018, the Balourdet Quartet’s roots trace to the Taos School of Music, where founding members bonded over chamber music, shared meals, and friendship—later joined by violist Benjamin Zannoni at Rice University. The ensemble has since earned top prizes at the Concert Artists Guild Competition, Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, Banff International String Quartet Competition, Premio Paolo Borciani Competition, and Yellow Springs Competition, and trained at the New England Conservatory Professional String Quartet Program under Paul Katz.

TERRA QUARTET
Harriet Langley, violin | Amelia Dietrich, violin | Chih-Ta Chen, viola | Audrey Chen, cello

Winners of the 2025 Naumburg Chamber Music Competition and recent prizewinners at the Bordeaux and Wigmore Hall International String Quartet Competitions, the Terra String Quartet (TSQ) is a vibrant international ensemble based in New York City. Formed by graduates of The Juilliard School, New England Conservatory, Harvard University, and the Curtis Institute of Music, TSQ is recognized for its sincere storytelling, artistic rigor, and versatile approach to repertoire, fostering genuine human connection through both performance and pedagogy.

The Quartet is the 2024–26 Fellowship Ensemble-in-Residence at the Yale School of Music, where its members coach undergraduate chamber music ensembles. Known for performances that balance intellectual depth with emotional immediacy, the Terra String Quartet continues to establish itself as a compelling and distinctive voice in today’s chamber music landscape. Outside the concert hall, the members enjoy playing Mahjong together and deepening their shared curiosity about instruments and bows.

BARRY SHIFFMAN, violin/viola
Violinist and violist Barry Shiffman has enjoyed a distinguished career as a performer, recording artist, teacher, and arts leader. He made his debut with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra at age 15 and in 1989 co-founded the St. Lawrence String Quartet. During his 17 years with the ensemble, he performed more than 2,000 concerts worldwide, including appearances at Rockport Music, and recorded several critically acclaimed albums for EMI Classics.

A highly respected teacher and chamber music coach, Shiffman has served as artist-in-residence at Stanford University and as visiting artist at the University of Toronto, and has been involved in the premieres of hundreds of new works. He was recently named Dean of The Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, following many years of leadership there and at the Banff Centre. Shiffman is the recipient of the Nadia Boulanger Prize for Excellence in Teaching and an honorary doctorate from the University of Calgary.