GBH Music brings free live performances to public schools, homeless shelters, and the GBH Studio at the Boston Public Library 

(Boston, Mass. - Oct. 22, 2024) – GBH Music today announced the return of the Ulysses Quartet for a second year as its quartet in residence. The collaboration furthers GBH Music’s commitment to making live music accessible to diverse audiences through performances for students of all ages, concerts at homeless shelters throughout Greater Boston in collaboration with Shelter Boston, and free performances at the GBH Studio at Boston Public Library.

“The Ulysses Quartet’s residency last year showcased the transformative power of live music, reaching 1,800 Boston Public School students and inspiring audiences of all ages across the city,” said Sam Brewer, General Manager of GBH Music. “This year, we’re excited to deepen our collaboration with the schools and to bring people experiencing homelessness the beauty and solace found in live music experiences.”

This year, the Ulysses Quartet will spend five weeks visiting various public schools across the Commonwealth, engaging students from kindergarten through senior year. Scheduled performances in the Boston Public Schools system include Orchard Gardens K-8 School in October; Joseph P. Tynan Elementary School in November; Donald McKay K-8 School in February; Josiah Quincy School in March; and the Boston Public Schools’ Citywide Arts Festival at the Boston Common in May. In collaboration with GBH’s sister station, New England Public Media, the Ulysses Quartet will also visit public school students at the Springfield Conservatory of the Arts.

In addition to performances at schools and homeless shelters, the Ulysses Quartet will perform for GBH Music audiences in Greater Boston throughout the 2024 - 2025 season. The group will host five free hour-long concerts at the GBH Studio at the Boston Public Library at 1 p.m. on Oct. 24, Nov. 14, Feb. 27, March 13, and May 29.

“We are thrilled to be continuing our work with GBH this year, reaching more school students and others in need,” said Rhiannon Banerdt of the Ulysses Quartet. “We look forward to a fruitful continuing partnership and deepening our connection with the Boston musical community.”

The Ulysses Quartet will record projects in GBH’s acoustically acclaimed Fraser Performance Studio, including the complete string quartets by Felix and Fanny Mendelssohn.

The Ulysses Quartet’s residency at GBH is made possible by a generous contribution from the Mattina R. Proctor Foundation.

“The trustees of the Mattina Proctor Foundation are pleased to partner, once again, with GBH Music and the Ulysses Quartet to bring string quartet music to public schools. We know that Mattina Proctor would appreciate the personal connection that the Quartet has made, and will continue to make, with the students in our shared community,” said Jeffrey D. Hutchins, trustee of the Mattina R. Proctor Foundation.

About GBH
GBH is the leading multiplatform creator for public media in America. As the largest producer of content for PBS and partner to NPR and PRX, GBH delivers compelling experiences, stories and information to audiences wherever they are. GBH produces digital and broadcast programming that engages, illuminates and inspires, through drama and science, history, arts, culture and journalism. It is the creator of such signature programs as MASTERPIECE, ANTIQUES ROADSHOW, FRONTLINE, NOVA, AMERICAN EXPERIENCE, Arthur and Molly of Denali and a catalog of streaming series, podcasts and on-demand video. GBH’s television channels include GBH 2, GBH 44, GBH Kids and national services WORLD and Create. With studios and a newsroom headquartered in Boston, GBH reaches across New England with GBH 89.7, Boston’s Local NPR; CRB Classical 99.5; and CAI, the Cape and Islands NPR station. Dedicated to making media accessible to and inclusive of our diverse culture, GBH is a pioneer in delivering media to those who are deaf, hard of hearing, blind and visually impaired. GBH creates curriculum-based digital content for educators nationwide with PBS LearningMedia and has been recognized with hundreds of the nation’s premier broadcast, digital and journalism awards. Find more information at gbh.org.

About Ulysses Quartet
The Ulysses Quartet has been praised for their “textural versatility,” “grave beauty” and “the kind of chemistry many quartets long for, but rarely achieve” (The Strad). Founded in 2015, the group won the grand prize and gold medal in the senior string division of the 2016 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition and first prize in the 2018 Schoenfeld International String Competition. The quartet’s members hail from Canada, the United States and Taiwan. They have performed in such prestigious halls as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Jordan Hall, the Picasso Museum in Málaga and Washington’s National Gallery of Art among many others. At Juilliard from 2019 to 2022, they were the Lisa Arnhold Fellows, serving as the School’s Graduate Resident String Quartet for 3 years. The group’s name pays homage to Homer’s hero Odysseus and his 10-year voyage home. The members of Ulysses perform on instruments and bows on loan from the Maestro Foundation and private donors.

Media Contact
Vitoria Poejo
GBH External Relations
917-597-3353
Vitoria_Poejo@wgbh.org