The Florestan String Quartet was formed in 2017 by four members of The Orchestra Now at Bard College including Adina Tsai, Michael Rau (violins), Chi Lee (viola), and Lauren Peacock (cello).  The primary location of the Florestan String Quartet is in Annandale-on-Hudson in New York, focusing on the Hudson Valley Area and the Greater New York Area.

       

        They had the privilege of working with Luis Garcia-Renart, a renowned cellist on faculty at Bard College, and he toured with legendary cellist Pablo Casals during his career. The Florestan String Quartet was involved in a chamber music series called “Candide’s Journey” in February 2017 at the Hudson Opera House in Hudson, New York. Other appearances include a masterclass with violinist, Arnaud Sussmann and regular orchestra seasons with The Orchestra Now at Bard College, which they give numerous concerts in Carnegie Hall, Jazz Lincoln Center, The Metropolitan Museum in New York City and The Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts in upstate New York. Other artists they have collaborated include Byron Adams, composer/scholar-in-residence of Bard Music Festival, Erica Kiesswetter, former concertmaster of American Symphony Orchestra, and bassist Paul Nemeth at The Orchestra Now at Bard College. 

 

           They were invited to play at the opening gala of Bard SummerScape 2017-2018, including the string quartet transcription of Rimsky-Korsakov's "Scheherazade," and a fundraising concert for The Orchestra Now at Bard College 2017. Robert Schumann’s First String Quartet was the first piece that gathered the four enthusiastic musicians for chamber music and where they developed their name.

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        Beyond bringing the established string quartet repertoires, the Florestan String Quartet strongly believes in the importance of  community engagement. They have collaborated with museums and non-profit organizations, including musicians from The Orchestra Now at Bard College, Olana State Historic Site, Hudson Opera House, Stanford Historical Society, Tivoli Free Library, Beattie-Powers Place and Wethersfield Garden in upstate New York.

      

        The quartet's most recent project is “Florestan String Quartet’s Journey: USA to TAIWAN” . In this charity project, the five musicians brought classical music to the privileged children in Taiwan in summer 2017. 

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