Beo String Quartet

“This is an ensemble whose music making speaks to the heart as well as the mind” — Richard Danielpour

Beo String Quartet embraces the breadth and depth available to a string quartet in the 21st-century. By crafting original music and projects, engaging listeners through entertainment and thoughtful demonstration, collaborating with living composers, performing quartet masterpieces in a wide array of settings, and exploring technology’s capacity as a musical and social tool, Beo is expanding the role of chamber musicians in today’s global culture. Now in its seventh season, Beo has performed over 100 concert works in the US and Europe--including over 45 world premieres.

In addition to its many recordings, videos, and covers, Beo regularly performs original works and projects – repertoire you cannot hear any other ensemble perform. Works such as Haydn Recycled and Projection1: Triple Quartet combine virtuosic quartet writing and staging in various forms that employs the use of electronics, pre-recorded music, video projections, live sound processing, and spatial audio manipulation. Beo's newest original works, such as 19-20 and triggerLand, use video and animation to place a strong narrative focus on social issues.

Always looking to break the mold, Beo recently founded a recording label, NeuKraft Records, to more readily produce and distribute Beo-original projects without constraints of style or genre. NeuKraft Records has built a new, personalized recording studio space to conduct its recording, engineering, mastering, and live-streaming in-house using state-of-the-art equipment, giving Beo direct control over the quality of the final product and greatly simplifying the production process. Projects released on the label include string quartet masterpieces, original art songs, and long form concept albums.

Beo is actively involved in the contemporary music scene, with notable collaborations including works from Richard Danielpour, Marc Mellits, Missy Mazzoli, Lawrence Dillon, Joel Hoffman, and Charles Nichols. As part of its annual residency with the Charlotte New Music Festival, Beo hosts an annual Composition Competition. After a winning work is selected from 100+ submissions, the work is recorded and programmed frequently in Beo’s following season. Recordings of the winning works can be found on Beo’s website alongside other contemporary works.

Music education outreach is essential to the quartet’s vision. Beo has earned a reputation for its thoughtfully-crafted educational shows. Although disguised as entertainment, each show is designed to teach real chamber music skills and a love for classical music to students ranging from complete beginners to pre-professionals. Also in development is a publishing effort to make the student ensemble works of Richard Neukom, a strings educator with 40+ years experience, available to elementary, middle, and high-school string ensemble educators. In some cases, these pieces have solo parts for Beo to play so they can be used as part of our in-person clinics with student ensembles. Through its educational tours of elementary, middle, and high schools, short-term residencies at colleges and universities, and its annual residency at Dakota Chamber Music, Beo has shared these unique, engaging experiences with more than 3,500 students to date.

With new projects always in the works, be sure to stay in touch with all things Beo by subscribing to @beostringquartet on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and SoundCloud. Beo joined the roster of the Lisa Sapinkopf Artists in 2022.