Who is Skyros

The Skyros Quartet brings a bright and inventive style to the performance stage, having concertized extensively on multiple continents, with their playing noted as “[taking] to each piece with a ravishing, articulate, sonically appealing approach that has passion more than sentiment, [with] fully coherent phrasing” - Gapplegate Classical-Modern Music Review and “The quartet plays with enthusiasm and precision” -audiophile audition. The members of Skyros Quartet are Sarah Pizzichemi, Brandon Vance, Justin Kurys, and Willie Braun. Established in 2010, they have been heard at some of the most prestigious venues and music festivals including the Aspen Music Festival and School (Aspen, Colorado), Seattle Chamber Music Society (Seattle, Washington), Deer Valley Music Festival (Park City, Utah), Sunflower Music Festival (Topeka, Kansas), QuartetFest at Sir Wilfrid Laurier University and Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber Music Society (Ontario, Canada), the CommonTone Arts Music Festival (Moscow, Idaho), and at the University of British Columbia concert series (Vancouver, Canada). Skyros has also performed on tour in Xi’an and Hangzhou, China. Skyros had the honor of giving the West Coast premiere of the newly composed Piano Quintet by Philip Glass with acclaimed concert pianist Paul Barnes who commissioned the work. Along with celebrated cellist Eric Wilson (Emerson String Quartet emeritus), the quartet gave the Canadian premiere of Mikołaj Górecki Elegy for Cello and String Quartet at the University of British Columbia.

Skyros released their debut album, INTROSPECTIVE ODYSSEY, to great international acclaim in August 2015. It can be heard on the Navona label of Parma Recordings, and includes works by Sibelius, Turina and Britten. Most recently in 2023, they released an EP recording of the string quintet My Lai with composer and pianist Peter Colclasure. As a quartet, Skyros has collaborated with many living composers in the performance of new music. Performing with the internationally celebrated percussion group arxduo, they gave the west coast premier of works for percussion duo and string quartet by Michael Laurello and Christopher Dietz. Skyros worked with internationally renowned Latvian composer Pēteris Vasks presenting many of his works for string quartet. The quartet recorded and performed the world premier of the 2017 critically-acclaimed ballet Approaching Ecstasy with contemporary dance company Whim W’him, vocal ensemble The Esoterics, and composer Eric Banks. They have commissioned and premiered string quartets by Kate Skinner (Wounded Bird, She Dances, 2021), Sabrina Clarke (On Whale Beach, 2021), Liza Sobel (Prayer, 2011), and Devin Maxwell (Bouquet Canyon, CA, 2013). They have also worked with Tonia Ko (Aspen Music Festival and School), Charlie Leftridge (in collaboration with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Chamber Singers and again with the Esoterics), and Stephanie Martin (Sound in the Land conference at the University of Waterloo). In 2014, Skyros was featured at Fast Forward Austin, a new music festival in Austin, Texas. Skyros performed string trios and quartets by the four composers of the New York City W4 New Music Collective: Ruben Naeff, Molly Herron, Matt Frey, and Tim Hansen. Skyros made up the core string section of the UT New Music Ensemble for its 2011- 2012 season.

Founded in 2010, Skyros earned Masters in Chamber Music Performance from the University of Texas at Austin Sarah and Ernest Butler School of Music, mentored by the Miró Quartet and Sandy Yamamoto. From 2012-2015, they served as the Graduate Quartet-in-Residence at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Glenn Korff School of Music, where they completed Doctorates in Chamber Music Performance under the guidance of the Chiara String Quartet. Skyros was also mentored by Earl Carlyss (Juilliard Quartet), James Dunham (Cleveland Quartet), Sylvia Rosenberg, and members of the Takacs, American, Jupiter, and Pacifica String Quartets at the Aspen Music Festival and School Center for Advanced Quartet Studies. Skyros has also been coached extensively by the Penderecki and Muir String Quartets as well as composer Joan Tower. 

Skyros is passionate about educating audiences to the wonders of the string quartet. They regularly visit schools, lead community engagement programs and interactive family concerts, enabling them to inspire audiences of all ages and musical backgrounds. In 2015, the members of Skyros developed an in-school chamber music coaching program from the educational non-profit organization Chamber Music Guild. This in-school program provides weekly coachings to young string quartets using a curriculum designed by Skyros. The members of Skyros Quartet became artistic directors of CMG in 2016. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Skyros Quartet and CMG developed a chamber music podcast to stay connected to the larger music community called The Counterpoint Club. Members of Skyros have also served as faculty at Seattle University, Edmonds Community College, Union College (Lincoln, Nebraska), and the University of Texas at Austin String Project. At UNL, they were Graduate Teaching Assistants for chamber music outreach and a teaching-artist class that works with students to develop interactive presentations for children.

In February 2020, Skyros Quartet formed Constellation Creatives, their own non-profit 501(c)3 organization. Constellation Creatives champions innovative experiences of storytelling through the lens of chamber music with a vision to forge an interactive cultural institution embedded in the Puget Sound community.

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Teaching-artistry

Teaching-artistry is a core component of the Skyros Quartet's mission. As teaching-artists, they have engaged with audiences of all sizes and ages. In their formative years, the members of Skyros trained with the Chiara and Miró Quartets, where they learned to create interactive performances that educate and inspire. At UNL, they served as graduate teaching assistants for a teaching-artist class and represented the university at a variety of community engagement events.

interactive performances

The Skyros Quartet is always adding to their repertoire of interactive performances for all types of audiences. The following list represents a range of recent programs:

• Musical Cryptograms in Shostakovich's Eighth String Quartet - After hearing the opening minutes of the work, participants work in groups to compose and perform a musical cryptogram of their own design. Following a complete performance of the first movement of the quartet, participants discuss and reflect on how the composition activity affects one’s perception of Shostakovich’s musical cryptograms. Musical Cryptograms was first presented in 2015 at the University of Northern Colorado.
  

• The Little Engine That Could - Travel the railroads in a musical narration of the beloved classic The Little Engine That Could. Selections from chamber music favorites by Dvořák, Beethoven, Schubert, Barber, Mendelssohn, and an arrangement of Brubeck's Take 5 accompany the narrative and bring the story of overcoming challenges to life. All aboard!

skyros in the schools

The Skyros Quartet has a variety of school-specific programs that are suitable for a wide variety of classroom and assembly performances. From orchestra leadership workshops to general music classes to school wide assemblies, Skyros' custom programs are flexible and are tailored to each specific presentation. See the brochure below for more information about Skyros' educational offerings.

Especially powerful are Skyros' orchestral recruitment visits. While in Lincoln, Skyros visited all five 3rd grade general music classes at Maxey Elementary in the Spring of 2013, seen in the photos above. Just as predicted by teacher Sylvia Bailey in (Maxey Music Students Get Serious with the Skyros Quartet) about the visits, over 90 students joined the school's beginning orchestra the next fall. 

Dr. Sarah Pizzichemi (DMA, MM, BM) has distinguished herself as a versatile and passionate artist and educator with international performances and masterclasses as a soloist, chamber, and orchestral musician. She is a founding member and violinist of Skyros Quartet, established in 2010, and co-creator of Skyros Quartet’s 501(c)(3) nonprofit: Constellation Creatives. Skyros Quartet has performed extensively across Asia and North America and are passionate teaching artists in the Pacific Northwest region. Sarah is co-artistic director of Chamber Music Guild, a 501(c)(3) chamber music education nonprofit with six programs including the CMG in-school coaching program for which Sarah co-created the curriculum, and The Counterpoint Club podcast. She is co-founder and owner of the music publishing company Evergreen Music Press, which has a mission to broaden string and chamber music education.

Sarah has many private violin students, and maintains the award winning Pizzichemi Violin Studio. Her students regularly perform as soloists with orchestras, attend prestigious music festivals, win and place in competitions, and go on to earn college degrees in music. Sarah was concertmaster of the Saratoga Orchestra of Whidbey Island from 2016 to 2022. She has also acted as co-concertmaster of the Pacific Northwest Conducting Institute from 2017 through 2022. Sarah has also performed with the Lincoln Symphony Orchestra, Pacific Northwest Ballet Orchestra, Auburn Symphony, Waco Symphony, Seattle Baroque Orchestra, substituted as concertmaster of Seattle Modern Orchestra, and was previously concertmaster of the Seattle Collaborative Orchestra from 2015 to 2019.

Sarah received her Bachelor of Music in Violin Performance with honors and her Master of Chamber Music degrees from the University of Texas at Austin, and her Doctor of Musical Arts with an emphasis in String Quartet from The University of Nebraska-Lincoln as part of the graduate quartet-in-residence with Skyros Quartet. She also studied early music at UNL with Dr. Peter Lefferts and Dr. Christopher Marks. Her dissertation, “Virtuoso Violinist Maud Powell: Enduring Champion of American Women in Professional Music,” adds to the research literature of feminist musicology. Her main mentors include the Coleman Violin Studio, Brian Lewis, Sandy Yamamoto and the Miró Quartet, Hyeyung Yoon and the Chiara String Quartet, Jerzy Kaplanek and the Penderecki Quartet, Earl Carlyss, James Dunham, and Sylvia Rosenberg.

email Brandon at:

Brandon.skyros@gmail.com

email Justin at:

Justin.skyros@gmail.com

email Willie at:

Willie.skyros@gmail.com