2024 EDITION

- August 4 to 17, 2024

Abeo

United States
Year(s) at MISQA
Quartet members

Violin: Njioma Grevious

Violin: Rebecca Benjamin

Viola: James Kang

Cello: Brian Gadbow

Biography

The Abeo Quartet, formed at Juilliard in 2018, is winner of a First Prize and the Audience Favorite Prize in the 2022 Yellow Springs Chamber Music Competition for Emerging Professional Ensembles, Silver Medals in the 2022 Chesapeake International Chamber Music Competition and the 2019 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, and was also a finalist in the 2021 Young Concert Artists International Competition.

Abeo, which welcomed new members violinist Rebecca Benjamin and cellist Brian Gadbow in the spring of 2021, is honored to be the inaugural Graduate String Quartet in Residence at the University of Delaware under the mentorship of the Calidore String Quartet.

The quartet has been featured in the Schneider Concert Series, Alice Tully Hall, The Kennedy Center’s Reach Festival with pianist Joseph Kalichstein, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s masterclass series with the Danish String Quartet, and on WQXR’s Midday Masterpieces. Abeo was also featured  in Norway’s Vertavo Festival, performing seven Haydn string quartets and was in residence at the Glenstone Museum, debuting “Moonshot” by Alistair Coleman. Abeo has participated in the Montreal International String Quartet Academy, studying with members of Quatuor Ebene, and the Alban Berg, Takács and Artemis String Quartets. In 2021, the Abeo Quartet attended the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, coached by the Brentano, Emerson and Miró quartets. The quartet will study and perform at the 2022 Music@Menlo Chamber Music Festival and Institute, and has been invited to compete in the 2022 Banff International String Quartet Competition. 

During their time at Juilliard, Abeo studied regularly in the Honors Chamber Music Program under the tutelage of The Juilliard String Quartet with Joseph Lin, Astrid Schween and Roger Tapping. The quartet chose the name Abeo / ah – bey – oh /  — an expression of joy in a Nigerian dialect — to reflect their love for playing chamber music and sharing it with others.