On October 20, 2005, Music Around Us featured The Kirby Quartet in concert. This performance was broadcast on CBC Radio Two Sunday, October 30, 2005.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
(1756-1791)
Quartet in B flat, K. 458 (The Hunt)
i.   Allegro vivace assai
ii.  Menuetto
iii. Adagio
iv. Allegro assai

Excerpt from Finale to Mozart's Hunt Quartet
REALPLAYER   WINDOWS MEDIA   QUICKTIME
(02:14)

Inspired by legendary comic book artist Jack Kirby, whose groundbreaking and dramatic style fuelled all his creations from Love Romances to The Fantastic Four, the Kirby Quartet brings the same energy and passion to every manifestation of the string quartet.

Through their former groups the Metro and Bomari Quartets, and while collaborating with such musicians as Yo-Yo Ma, Rachel Podger, Menahem Pressler, Anton Kuerti, Steven Dann, the Florestan Trio, Tafelmusik, the St. Lawrence Quartet and Shauna Rolston, each member of the quartet has been forging their clarity of intention both as individuals and as chamber musicians. When the foursome finally joined forces after knowing each other for over a decade, they realized that this quartet could fulfill their highest ideals.

The Kirby Quartet is quickly establishing its place among Canada's top chamber groups. The quartet has become an audience favourite on the Toronto Music Garden Concert Series, the Les Amis Concerts, and the Markham Street Chamber Concerts, which it helped to found. The Quartet was in residence at the Music at Port Milford Chamber Music Camp, winner of the 1995 CMA Gruber Award for Excellence in Chamber Music Teaching, and will be touring the West Coast as well as coaching at the Langley Music School in the summer of 2005.

Sharing a common aesthetic based in historical performance practice, the members of the Kirby Quartet put their collective experience together for thought-provoking and risky performances.

Violinist Julia Wedman brings an "infectious vitality" to the world of music (Victoria Times Columnist). Her unique style combines period and modern performance practice, while her commitment to excellence has led her to be in great demand as a freelance musician in Toronto, where she now resides.

Julia is a core member of Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra. She performs regularly with the Canadian Opera Company Orchestra, Bach Consort, Opera Atelier, and the Aradia Ensemble with whom she has recorded many CDs for the Naxos label. Julia is also a member of I Furiosi Baroque Ensemble.

Originally from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Julia completed her Bachelor's degree at the University of Western Ontario as a student of Lorand Fenyves. She did graduate studies at the University of Toronto with Mayumi Seiler and Indiana University at Bloomington where she was a student of Franco Gulli and baroque violinist Stanley Ritchie. As a student, she spent summers touring with the National Youth Orchestra of Canada, the World Youth Orchestra and the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival Orchestra. She was a frequent resident artist at the Banff Centre for the Arts and a member of the Bomari String Quartet, the Banff Centre's 1999 summer ensemble in residence. Julia has spent several summers playing chamber music at Le Domaine Forget Music Festival, and is also a frequent guest at the Festival of the Sound, the Ottawa Chamber Music Festival and the Grand River Baroque Festival.

Since her solo debut at the age of eight with the CBC Vancouver Orchestra, Aisslinn Nosky has performed recitals across Canada, the United States and Europe. Born and raised in Nanaimo B.C., she received her early musical training at the Central Vancouver Island Community Music School with Heilwig von Konigslow.

In 1993, Aisslinn moved to Toronto to continue her studies with renowned pedagogue Lorand Fenyves at the Glenn Gould School of the Royal Conservatory of music. While at the Conservatory, Aisslinn co-founded the Metro String Quartet. Over their six years together, they represented Toronto at the International Academic Music Conference in Graz, Austria, and they were Quartet-in-Residence at both the Banff International Summer Festival and the Ravinia Summer Festival in Chicago. The Metro Quartet appeared in this series in 2000.

Since completing her studies in Toronto, Aisslinn has been in demand as a freelance violinist and regularly performs with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the National Ballet of Canada Orchestra, the Aradia Ensemble, Opera Atelier and the Bach Consort. Aisslinn has also frequently appeared as Guest Concertmaster of Symphony Nova Scotia, where she was hailed for her "sweetly singing tone" by the Halifax Herald. From 2003-2005 Aisslinn was Assistant Principal Second Violin of the Canadian Opera Company Orchestra and is now a core member of Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra. Aisslinn is also a member of I Furiosi Baroque Ensemble - a four-piece group performing on period instruments.

From his student days to his current professional career, Canadian violist Max Mandel has always been involved in chamber music groups of great variety. Max was a member of the Metro Quartet for six years, an experience which forged his dedication to chamber music through collaboration with his colleagues and teachers such as Lorand Fenyves, Menahem Pressler and Laurence Lesser at many music festivals, particularly Banff Centre for the Arts. Private studies at the University of Toronto and the Juilliard School were with Steven Dann, David Zafer and Samuel Rhodes.

Described as "a superb young violist" (The National Post) whose playing has "real character and personality" (The Globe and Mail), Max is a much sought-after chamber musician. He has performed with such musicians as Lorand Fenyves, The St. Lawrence, Pacifica and Axelrod Quartets, Jean Stillwell, Gilbert Kalish, and Fred Sherry. Competition prizes include the 1998 Special Prize at the Montreal Symphony Competition and selection for the 2000 Debut Young Artist Series. Music festival appearances include the Montreal Chamber Music Festival, Guelph Spring Festival, Le Domaine Forget, Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival, Aspen Music Festival, and the Caramoor Music Festival, both as a Rising Star and as a member of Caramoor Virtuosi.

Max is the violist of the Flux Quartet, New York's foremost contemporary music string quartet. Recent Flux highlights include a collaboration with the New York City Ballet for an original choreography to Gyorgi Ligeti's String Quartet No.1 and a performance of Feldman's six hour String Quartet #2 as part of the inaugural season of the new Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall. Max recently acted as Guest Principal Viola of the Canadian Opera Company Orchestra. Other musical affiliations include Yo-Yo Ma's Silk Road Ensemble and the Seiler Strings Chamber Orchestra.

Born in Vancouver, Carina Reeves is committed to the exchange of energy between artist and audience through sound. Her styles and forms of expression continue to grow, playing in parks and chapels, concert halls and clubs.

Receiving both her Bachelor and Master's Degrees from the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, Carina studied with Colin Carr, Carter Brey, and Benjamin Zander. She has played at music festivals all over Canada, the US, and Europe, and her love of contemporary music has seen her perform in the Prague Summer Festival and premiere string quartets at the Enchanted Circle Series in Boston. She has worked with the Juilliard String Quartet and Peter Serkin in Tanglewood, where she was the recipient of Tanglewood's 1998 Karl Zeise Memorial Cello Prize. As a member of the Bomari Quartet, she was in residence at the Banff Centre for the Arts International Summer Festival, where she performed with Laurence Lesser and Gilbert Kalish. Her concerts have been praised as "fresh as paint" by the Victoria Times Colonist.

In Toronto, Carina is leading a busy freelance life. In addition to Kirby Quartet, her chamber music concerts in Toronto include contemporary ensembles Continuum, Numus, and Esprit, theatre productions with the Art of Time Ensemble, as well as early music with the cutting-edge I Furiosi Baroque Ensemble. Often spotted playing and improvising for modern dance productions, Carina also plays in New York with pop bands and gut-stringed romantics and is a frequent soloist on the West Coast. She has several movie credits to her name, including Sophia Loren's 100th film, Between Strangers.