ABOUT EQ
From baroque to beatboxing, Emissary Quartet engages audiences with a vibrant musical repertoire.
EQ is committed to cultivating connection and opportunity through dynamic performances and residencies that empower musicians and foster community.
Unconstrained by geographical boundaries, the flutists of EQ live across the United States and meet for performance and teaching residencies throughout the year. Recent activities have taken EQ to Seattle, Pittsburgh, Boston, Utah, and Iowa, and the quartet has presented at the 2016 National Flute Association Convention, the Mid-Atlantic Flute Convention, and for both the New Jersey and Utah flute societies. In May 2016, EQ competed at the live quarterfinal round of the Fischoff Competition.
Emissary Quartet has been the recipient of numerous grants and honors, including those from New Music USA, the Friends of Flutes Foundation, the Seattle Office of Arts and Culture, and the Fromm Foundation at Harvard University.
EQ has begun curating a catalog of new works that fully exploit the dynamic expressive capabilities of four flutes together. The ensemble held an International Call for Scores throughout the 2016-2017 season, and received over 190 submissions from composers across the globe. Three winning works will be performed and recorded in November 2017 in New York. With the support of a commission from the Fromm Music Foundation, EQ collaborated with composer Annika Socolofsky to premiere a new work for flute quartet in November 2016. In 2015, Emissary Quartet worked with composer Peter Kramer to adapt his flute trio Wedge for four flutes, the new version of which EQ premiered. Emissary Quartet continues developing fruitful collaborative relationships with composers to further the music of their generation and make flute quartet music a significant part of the sound landscape of today.
The quartet’s serious commitment to expanding the flute quartet repertoire is paired with an eagerness to share this music with new audiences in person and online, and to inspire young musicians and flutists. EQ has led workshops for flute students of the Utah Suzuki Association and Seattle Music Partners focusing on extended techniques and ensemble playing. In April 2017, EQ partnered with Seattle-based composer and teaching artist Kaley Lane Eaton for a Young Composer’s Workshop, in which middle school and high school students explored their musical creativity through writing short pieces for Emissary Quartet.
Founded in 2009 by students of Jeanne Baxtresser and Alberto Almarza, Emissary Quartet (then under the name Con Brio Flutes), was featured at a 2010 Convocation at the Carnegie Mellon School of Music, with hundreds of students in attendance. EQ was also invited to perform at the 2010 Festival de Musica de Santa Catarina in Brazil. In both 2010 and 2011, Emissary Quartet was invited to play in Carnegie Mellon’s Collage Concert, the annual School of Music showcase. While still at Carnegie Mellon, EQ’s recordings quickly earned notice from colleagues across the country and their YouTube videos from 2010 now have over 29,000 views.