OPENING CONCERT: Princeton’s Summer Concert series begins at Richardson Auditorium on June 26 with the Ivalas Quartet.

The Ivalas Quartet will open Princeton University Summer Chamber Concerts’ 58th Season in Richardson Auditorium on Thursday, June 26 at 7:30 p.m. The ensemble will offer works by Haydn, Skye, and Ravel.

The quartet was founded in 2017 with a mission to enrich the classical music world by spotlighting past and present BIPOC composers alongside the standard repertory. They served as the Graduate Resident String Quartet at The Juilliard School from 2022 to 2024, where they studied with the Juilliard String Quartet. They were previously in residence at the University of Colorado-Boulder under the mentorship of the Takács Quartet. They premiered Derrick Skye’s Deliverance through a commission from Caramoor in 2024.

​The members of the quartet — violinists Reuben Kebede and Tiani Butts, violist Marcus Stevenson, and cellist Pedro Sánchez — have a shared dedication to their roles as educators, with coaching experience including residencies at the University of Michigan’s Center Stage Strings program, the University of Northern Iowa, the University of Central Arkansas, Madeline Island Chamber Music, and the MacPhail Center for Music. In New York City, they have coached student groups at The Juilliard School and worked with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center through the Society’s Chamber Music Beginnings since 2022.

The series will continue on July 2 with the Bennewitz Quartet, on July 11 with the Galvin Cello Quartet, and on July 17 with a clarinet/viola/piano trio from the Manhattan Chamber Players. Visit princetonsummerchamberconcerts.org for more information.