Balourdet Quartet Signs with Colbert Artists Management

The Balourdet Quartet, a group that was in residence in NEC’s Professional String Quartet Program from 2020 to 2023, signed last week with Colbert Artists Management, an agency whose client roster includes such acclaimed musicians and ensembles as conductor Christoph von Dohnányi, soprano Dawn Upshaw ’24 hon. DM, violinist Tai Murray, the Calder Quartet, and the Juilliard String Quartet.

The mentorship the Balourdet Quartet received at NEC “gave us the core of our musical beliefs,” violist Benjamin Zannoni ’22 GD, ’23 GRC said. The quartet was guided at NEC by cellist Paul Katz and worked with several other members of the faculty who violinist Justin DeFilippis ’17, ’22 GD, ’23 GRC said complemented one another stylistically. The quartet — violinists Angela Bae ’22 MM, ’23 GRC and DeFilippis, Zannoni, and cellist Russell Houston ’22 GD, ’23 GRC — admire the curiosity NEC faculty bring to their work. The residency at NEC, Zannoni said, afforded the group a chance to not only study with Katz but to discover themselves as artists in an ensemble, spend time rehearsing, and “do something amazing.”

The Balourdet Quartet formed at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music in 2018 and auditioned for NEC’s Professional String Quartet Program after earning Second Prize at the Carl Nielsen International Chamber Music Competition in 2019.

Learn more about the Balourdet Quartet. Photo by Stephen Barton.