Catalyst Quartet

The Grammy-nominated Catalyst Quartet continues our 61st season on Tuesday, December 1, 2026, at Libby Gardner Concert Hall on the University of Utah campus. Founded by the internationally acclaimed Sphinx Organization in 2010, the quartet was hailed by The New York Times at its Carnegie Hall debut as “invariably energetic and finely burnished...playing with earthy vigor.” The ensemble has performed at the Kennedy Center, Chicago’s Harris Theater, and Stern Auditorium at Carnegie Hall, and is celebrated for UNCOVERED, its multi-volume Azica Records series championing overlooked composers of color.

Estimated duration: 1 hour and 35 minutes

Program:
- Joseph Haydn – String Quartet in B-flat Major, Op. 76, No. 4 “Sunrise” — 24 min
- Samuel Coleridge-Taylor – 5 Fantasiestücke for String Quartet, Op. 5 — 23 min
- Intermission — 15 min
- Antonín Dvořák – String Quartet No. 12 in F major, Op. 96, B. 179, “American” — 26 min

All timings are approximate. Program and artists are subject to change.

A free pre-concert talk is offered at 6:30 p.m. before the performance.

Featured performers: Catalyst Quartet
- Abi Fayette, violin
- Karla Donehew Perez, violin
- Paul Laraia, viola
- Karlos Rodriguez, cello

The quartet believes in the unity that can be achieved through music and imagines its programs and projects with this in mind, redefining and reimagining the classical music experience. It has toured widely in the United States and abroad, appeared as a guest soloist with several orchestras, and performed at music festivals including Mainly Mozart, the Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival, and the Grand Canyon Music Festival.

UNCOVERED, the quartet’s ongoing multi-volume album project, celebrates composers of color whose works have been overlooked by the traditional canon. Volume 1 includes string quartets and quintets by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor; Volume 2 features works by Florence B. Price; and Volume 3 features works by Coleridge-Taylor, Perkinson, William Grant Still, and George Walker. Volume 3 was nominated for a GRAMMY in the best small chamber ensemble category.