| Members: | Sheila Jaffé, violin Brenna Hardy-Kavanagh, violin Emilie Grimes, viola Sonya Matoussova, cello |
| Genre: | Classical |
| Hometown: | Montréal, Québec |
| Website: | |
| Current Location: | Montréal, Québec |
| Biography: | Based in Montréal, Canada, the Alaya String Quartet is comprised of four young women studying at l'Université de Montréal. The quartet is currently coached by Johanne Perron and Jutta Puchhammer-Sédillot. The quartet was founded in 2004 as the Cadenza String Quartet. The original members were violinists Olga Rykov and Brenna Hardy-Kavanagh, violist Shasta Ellenbogen and cellist Sonya Matoussova. Together they recorded a successful demo CD and won the James Rattray Wilson Trophy for their pe... (read more) |
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- Alaya String Quartet mentioned on festival website 1:07pm Jun 15
- Video on YouTube 3:52pm May 23
- Alaya String Quartet Wins 1st Prize in Sorel-Tracy! 7:11am May 13
Upcoming Seasons:
- Brahms Piano Quintet, Op. 34 in F minor
- Debussy String Quartet in G minor
- Mendelssohn String Quartet, Op. 44 No. 2 in E minor
- Mozart String Quartet, No. 15 in D minor
- Ravel String Quartet in F major
- Schumann String Quartet, No. 1 in A minor
Previous Seasons:
- Beethoven String Quartet, Op. 18 No. 4 in C minor
- Borodin String Quartet, No. 2 in D major
- Dvorak String Quartet, No. 12 "America"
- Mozart String Quartet, No. 17 in B flat "The Hunt"
- Shostakovich String Quartet, No. 3 in F
- Smetana String Quartet, No. 1 in E minor "From My Life"
- Tchaikovsky String Sextet, Souvenir de Florence
Guy Carmichaël
Festival de Musique Classique du Bas-Richelieu
May 2008
"Congratulations on a wonderful concert! I brought along a few friends. One of them told me just before you starting playing, he had never been to a quartet concert before! He really enjoyed it and you definitely opened his mind to this form of music."
Guy Harrison
Spring Concert
June 2007
"I just want you to know that I enjoyed last night's concert immensely (as I did last year's!); I hope it wasn't the last opportunity I will have to hear you play together. In particular, the Tango "Chromatique" was an excellent selection to finish with, providing a beautifully relaxing resolution after the tension of Shostakovich (whose challenging piece I thought you executed marvelously, by the way)."
Dean Morewood
Spring Concert
June 2007
"Your performance was remarkable. I congratulate you on your level of musicianship and professionalism."
Chris Hounsome
Kiwanis Music Festival
April 2006
"I just wanted to say thanks again to you for doing such a wonderful job. You all play so beautifully, and it was an absolute pleasure to hear you perform."
Jonathan Neva
Recording Session
March 2006












Alaya String Quartet wrote a note.
1:07pm