The California String Quartet was formed in 2002 by members of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra who were busy in the recording industry and as their artistic outlet and a way of possibility to express and explore the endless diversity and beauty of the more intimate chamber music repertoire. Their collaboration earned them the LA WEEKLY's "Most outstanding chamber ensemble" award and the respect and admiration of audiences, critics and peers in Los Angeles and Southern California. The CSQ has appeared on TV and on Classical radio K-Mozart numerous times and has been a guest to some of the most prestigious chamber music series such as LACMA Live, Chamber music at Greystone, Norton Simon Museum, The Music Guild, South Bay Chamber Music Society, Ventura Chamber Music Festival, Lagerstrom Chamber Music, CALTech Music Society, Restoration Series South Pasadena, Chamber Music at the Old Mill San Marino and many more.
The California String Quartet collaborates with many contemporary composers and has premiered numerous of new works. They premiered and recorded the acclaimed string quartet #1 by the talented Bulgarian composer Penka Kouneva and are collaborating on a recording project with the Oscar nominated film composer John Powell which will include the unexplored beauty of the string quartets by Russian composer Sergey Taneyev.
Next season the quartet will be a "Quartet in Residence" in the Brentwood Salon where they will be commissioning a composer to write a piece for the quartet for every concert.
Recently the quartet went through a transformation with the edition of second violin Luanne Homzy, violist Zach Dellinger and cellist Ben Lash who brought contemporary sound and new energy and dedication to the group which takes the performances to a new level of musical mastery and brilliance. Holding degrees from such prestigious music academies as Paris Conservatory, UCLA, USC and Colburn, they are busy recording artists, soloists and orchestra musicians as well as dedicated teachers who share their knowledge, experience and love for music with the young students as well as inspire the audience with their passion and artistry.
Katia Popov - Violin 1
Luanne Homzy - Violin 2
Zach Dellinger - Viola
Ben Lash - Cello