Artaria String Quartet

Ray Shows, Violin

Nancy Oliveros, Violin

Annalee Wolf, Viola

Laura Sewell, Cello

Violinist Ray Shows made his solo debut with orchestra in his native Atlanta. As a founding member of the ARTARIA STRING QUARTET, he has performed in major concert halls in New York, Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Minneapolis across the U.S. and in Europe. A 2004 winner of a prestigious McKnight Performing Artist Fellowship, Ray is a highly regarded chamber musician who has concertized with many renowned artists including Arnold Steinhardt (Guarneri Quartet), Eugene Drucker (Emerson Quartet), Paul Katz (Cleveland Quartet), and Raphael Hillyer (Juilliard Quartet). He was featured as a concerto soloist with the Portland Symphony Orchestra, where he served as interim Concertmaster and Principal Second Violin. Other professional performance engagements include the Boston Ballet, Boston Pops Esplanade and the Boston Opera Company. Ray is passionate about 20th century music and has performed and recorded music of today's leading composers, including Gunther Schuller, Augusta Read Thomas, Marjorie Merryman and Thomas Oboe Lee, commissioning solo and chamber works for his own New Music Festivals. An Artist/Teacher in Residence at the Tanglewood Institute and a 3-time recipient of prestigious grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, Ray has held teaching residencies at Boston College, Viterbo University, Florida State University and Baldwin-Wallace Conservatory. He received the coveted Director's Award and graduated with distinction from Boston University with his Master's Degree in Violin Performance under the tutelage of Carl Flesch protege Roman Totenberg. His BM Magna Cum Laude was received from Florida State University studying with Gerardo Ribeiro. Studies in Chamber Music were mentored by Eugene Lehner (Kolisch Quartet) and members of the Budapest, Juilliard, Emerson, Cleveland, LaSalle, Muir, and Colorado Quartets. Since 2000 Ray has been a member of the faculty of St. Olaf College and co-directs the Artaria Chamber Music School in St. Paul. Ray plays on a rare Italian violin made in Rome by David Tecchler in 1726.