Say It Loud: The Overlook Quartet
The “breathtaking,” “paradigm-shifting” (New York Music Daily) string quartet The Overlook is a unifying, community-building force, whose dedication to a more representative musical tradition reverberates throughout their industry.
The Overlook formed from a simple need to make and share music with others during the pandemic shutdown. The longtime friends, some of New York’s most accomplished string players, gathered to play outdoors in parks and on street corners in upper Manhattan, and their community stopped to listen. Through these casual outdoor performances, they built a following in person and on social media, connected with local businesses and residential enclaves, and partnered with important neighborhood cultural centers for their first official performances. They witnessed firsthand the power of music to unite and inspire – all without playing a single note of the string quartet repertoire that has been held up as “standard” for hundreds of years.
By building relationships with composers and championing new works, collaborating with interdisciplinary creators, re-thinking the concert experience to include non-traditional spaces, and consistently engaging with their Uptown NYC community, The Overlook upholds its mission to create a more representative and relevant musical practice.