ENSEMBLE · STRING QUARTET
Miró Quartet
2x Grammy
Nominated Avery Fisher
Career Grant Dedicatee
Major new works from Kevin Puts, Caroline Shaw & Jake Heggie UT-Austin
Quartet-in-Residence ABOUT
The Miró Quartet is one of America’s most celebrated string quartets, praised as "furiously committed" by The New Yorker and recognized for its "exceptional tonal focus and interpretive intensity" by the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Marking its 30th anniversary in 2025, the Grammy-nominated quartet has performed on the world’s most prestigious concert stages, earning accolades from critics and audiences alike. Based in Austin, TX, and thriving on the area’s storied music scene, the quartet takes pride in finding new ways to communicate with audiences of all backgrounds while cultivating the longstanding tradition of chamber music. Since 2003, Miró has served as the quartet-in-residence at the University of Texas at Austin Sarah and Ernest Butler School of Music.
Miró Quartet’s current and recent projects include a touring and recording project with pianist Lara Downes titled Here on Earth, featuring musical depictions of our planet, its evolution, and the lives of its inhabitants; the premiere of a new version of Kevin Puts’ Credo with the Naples Philharmonic; and collaborations with composers Steven Banks, Tamar-kali, and Gabriel Kahane; as well as soprano Karen Slack and the Isidore Quartet. During the 2025-2026 season, the quartet’s engagements include a 30th anniversary appearance at Oberlin College, where the group was formed, as well as performances at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, Brevard Music Center, Austin Chamber Music Festival, and more.
Read full biography
The Miró Quartet’s newest album, a recording of Ginastera’s complete String Quartets released on PENTATONE in July 2025, was lauded by Gramophone as “the most technically polished accounts yet of these extraordinary works … a stunning achievement.” Among its many previous recordings for a variety of global labels, the quartet was nominated for a 2025 Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance for its album Home (PENTATONE, 2024), featuring two new commissions by Kevin Puts and Caroline Shaw, as well as works by George Walker and Samuel Barber. The group was nominated for a 2024 Grammy Award for Best Choral Performance for House of Belonging, created in collaboration with Austin-based choral group Conspirare. They recently produced an Emmy Award–winning audiovisual multimedia project titled Transcendence, a documentary centered around a performance of Franz Schubert’s Quartet in G Major on rare Stradivarius instruments, available on livestream, CD, and Blu-ray.
Formed in 1995, the Miró Quartet has been awarded first prize at several national and international competitions including the Banff International String Quartet Competition and the Naumburg Chamber Music Competition. Deeply committed to music education, members of the quartet have given masterclasses at universities and conservatories throughout the world. In 2005, the quartet became the first ensemble ever to be awarded the coveted Avery Fisher Career Grant.
The Miró Quartet took its name and inspiration from the Spanish artist Joan Miró, whose Surrealist works – with subject matter drawn from the realm of memory, dreams, and imaginative fantasy – are some of the most groundbreaking, influential, and admired of the 20th century. Visit miroquartet.com for more information.
PRESS & REVIEWS
What the critics say
“Furiously committed”
— The New Yorker
“Explosive vigor and technical finesse”
— The New York Times
“Exceptional tonal focus and interpretive intensity”
— Cleveland Plain Dealer
Discography
Recordings
VIDEOS
Videos
2026-27
Programs & Repertoire
Program One
Two Titans at 200
- Franz Schubert String Quartet No. 15 in G major, D. 887
- Intermission
- Beethoven Quartet in B-flat major, Op. 130, with Grosse Fuge, Op. 133
Program Two
Vienna 200
- Franz Schubert String Quartet No. 12 in C minor, D. 703, "Quartettsatz" -OR- Anton Webern: Langsamer Satz for String Quartet
- Alban Berg Lyric Suite for String Quartet
- Intermission
- Franz Schubert String Quartet No. 15 in G major, D. 887
Program Three
Home
- Kevin Puts Home for String Quartet
- Samuel Barber String Quartet in B minor, Op. 11 -OR- Alberto Ginastera: Quartet No. 1, Op. 20
- Intermission
- Antonín Dvořák String Quartet No. 12 in F major, Op. 96, "American"
- Jay Ungar Ashokan Farewell (arr. William Fedkenheuer)
- Ervin T. Rouse Orange Blossom Special (arr. William Fedkenheuer)
Program Four
Mirrored Sound
- Ludwig van Beethoven String Quartet No. 6 in B-flat major, Op. 18, No. 6, IV. La Malinconia. Adagio
- Caroline Shaw Blueprint
- Henri Dutilleux "Ainsi la Nuit" (1976), movement selections
- George Crumb "Black Angels" (1970), movement selections
- Intermission
- Alberto Ginastera Quartet No. 2, Op. 26
Program Five
Holiday Program 2026 – Home & Hearth
- Kevin Puts Home for String Quartet
- Samuel Barber String Quartet in B minor, Op. 11
- Intermission
- Holiday set (30 minutes) beloved classical and holiday favorites reimagined in vibrant new arrangements by today's leading composers including Kevin Puts, Clarice Assad, Gabriel Kahane, Derrick Skye, Paola Prestini, Anna Clyne, and Jeff Scott.
Program Six
One-Act Program I
- 75-minute interactive program with commentary.
- Hugo Wolf Italian Serenade
- George Walker Lyric for Strings
- Joseph Haydn String Quartet No. 2 in D major, Op. 71 (complete or selections)
- Samuel Barber String Quartet in B minor, Op. 11, "Adagio"
- Beethoven String Quartet No. 11 in F minor, Op. 95 (complete or selections)
- Kevin Puts "Home," opening movement
- Debussy String Quartet in G minor, Op. 10, III. Andantino & IV. Très mouvementé
Program Seven
One-Act Program II
- 75-minute interactive program with commentary.
- Franz Schubert String Quartet No. 12 in C minor, D. 703, "Quartettsatz"
- Caroline Shaw Microfictions Vol. 1
- Joseph Haydn Quartet TBD (complete or selections)
- Maurice Ravel String Quartet in F major, II. Assez vif, très rythmé
- Beethoven String Quartet No. 2 in E minor, Op. 59, IV. Finale. Presto
Program Eight
Collaborative: New Commission from Clarice Assad
A new commission in development by composer Clarice Assad for string quartet; more information coming soon.
Program Nine
Collaborative: Strings & Saxophone with Steven Banks
A wide-ranging program for saxophone and string quartet with Steven Banks, featuring Banks' original work Come What May alongside music by Hildegard of Bingen, Caroline Shaw, Beethoven, and Osvaldo Golijov.
Program Ten
Collaborative: Strings & Soprano with Karen Slack
A new 15-minute work by composer Tamar-kali, inspired by the poetry of Harlem Renaissance women, performed by soprano Karen Slack, alongside works by Barber, Margaret Bonds, Florence Price, George Walker, William Grant Still, and Stephen Taylor.
Program One
Program IA – Quartet Classics (Fall 2027)
- Joseph Haydn String Quartet in G minor, Op. 20, No. 3
- Shostakovich String Quartet No. 3 in F major, Op. 73
- Intermission
- Beethoven String Quartet No. 14 in C-sharp minor, Op. 131 -OR- Beethoven: String Quartet No. 16 in F major, Op. 135
Program Two
Program IB – Quartet Classics (Spring 2027)
- Haydn String Quartet in C major, Op. 76, No. 3, "Emperor"
- Shostakovich String Quartet No. 3 in F major, Op. 73
- Intermission
- Debussy String Quartet in G minor, Op. 10 -OR- Ravel: String Quartet in F major
Program Three
Mirrored Sound
- Ludwig van Beethoven String Quartet No. 6 in B-flat major, Op. 18, No. 6, IV. La Malinconia. Adagio
- Caroline Shaw "Blueprint"
- Henri Dutilleux "Ainsi la Nuit" (1976), movement selections
- George Crumb "Black Angels" (1970), movement selections
- Intermission
- Alberto Ginastera String Quartet No. 2, Op. 26
Program Four
Raíces: Echoes of Latin Soul
- Juan Crisóstomo Arriaga String Quartet No. 3 in E-flat major
- Clarice Assad New Work
- Intermission
- Silvestre Revueltas Música de Feria
- Alberto Ginastera String Quartet No. 1, Op. 20
Program Five
Holiday 2027 – Hearth (No Intermission, 90 minutes)
- arr. Clarice Assad In Dulci Jubilo
- arr. Kevin Puts The First Noel
- arr. Michi Wiancko Jingle Bells
- arr. Reena Esmail I Wonder As I Wander
- arr. Karl Mitze Deck the Halls
- arr. Samuel Lipman Ma'oz Tzur
- arr. Alex Berko In the Bleak Midwinter
- arr. Anna Clyne Mothers' Lullaby
- arr. Jeff Scott Wexford Carol
- arr. Gabriel Kahane "Lo, How a Rose…"
- arr. Michael Begay O Come All Ye Faithful
- arr. Paola Prestini Dejlig er Den Himmel Blå
- arr. Derrick Skye We Three
- arr. Joel Love Silent Night
- arr. Hyung-ki Joo Songs of Christmas Past
Program Six
Holiday 2027 – Hearth (With Intermission)
The Hearth arrangements interwoven with the movements of Tchaikovsky's String Quartet No. 1 in D major, Op. 11.
On Stage
Featured Projects
Hearth
String Quartet
The Miró Quartet's first holiday album and concert program, presenting original arrangements of seasonal tunes by fifteen composers, each reimagining a favorite holiday melody. Contributing arrangers include Clarice Assad, Kevin Puts, Reena Esmail, Anna Clyne, Gabriel Kahane, Paola Prestini, and Jeff Scott, among others. The quartet brings the album to the stage as a holiday-themed program, offered with or without intermission and, in the longer version, interleaved with movements of Tchaikovsky's String Quartet No. 1.
Mendelssohn Octet at 200
String Octet
The Miró and Isidore Quartets join forces for a limited tour in the 2025-26 season, closing each program with Mendelssohn's iconic Octet in celebration of the 200th anniversary of its composition in the autumn of 1825.
Miró Quartet Beethoven Cycle
String Quartet
The Miró Quartet celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2020 with the complete Beethoven string quartets, recorded in chronological order over fifteen years and released to acclaim — Gramophone called it "sublime." In honor of the 250th anniversary of Beethoven's birth, the Quartet broadcast live performances of the complete cycle remotely from venues throughout Austin for the Orcas Island Chamber Music Festival in summer 2020.
A Rendezvous with Benny
String Quartet and Clarinet
An extension of the Miró Quartet's Archive Project, A Rendezvous with Benny celebrates the artistry of clarinetist Benny Goodman, centered particularly on his relationship with the Budapest Quartet. Clarinetist David Shifrin joins the Miró Quartet for a program that revisits a landmark chapter of American chamber music.
Karen Slack & Miró Quartet: Tamar-kali
Soprano and String Quartet
A new work by acclaimed concert and film composer Tamar-kali (Mudbound) for soprano Karen Slack and the Miró Quartet, setting texts drawn from the inspirational poetry of women of the Harlem Renaissance. Tamar-kali pays homage to the music and poetry of that era while bringing forward her own distinctive voice, grounded across contemporary pop, classical, and film idioms.