Avaloch EAR Initiative

The Educational Artist Residency (EAR) Initiative seeks to bring in distinguished musicians and ensembles for a week of off-campus interactive workshops and masterclasses with surrounding schools and educational institutions.

EAR Residencies will also offer a unique, on-campus, residential opportunities for music lovers, enthusiasts and instrumentalists-- providing an opportunity where they can live, dine, socialize and learn alongside incredible performers, musicologists and composers, exploring historical and cultural contexts of the artists' repertoire and musical lineage.

2026 Season EAR Artists-in-Residence

W4RP QUARTET

April 20-25, 2026

Described as a “talented group that exemplifies the genre-obliterating direction of contemporary classical music” (Columbia Free Times), W4RP Quartet is an internationally touring cross-genre chamber music experience. Reflecting the combination of Juilliard trained members juxtaposed with members steeped in rock and jazz styles, the one-of-a-kind ensemble can be seen performing classical works in prestigious halls on the same tour where they headline a standing room only show at a rock venue. In addition to their electrifying public performances, they have gained a reputation for their innovative educational workshops with students from grade school through university level. Their groundbreaking original compositions and collaborative works explore myriad musical traditions and styles, as well as important social issues.   

Maintaining a busy performance schedule, W4RP has performed hundreds of concerts all across the United States, in addition to touring throughout the United Kingdom, Spain, Switzerland, Holland, Germany, Africa, and the Caribbean. Highlights of recent seasons include headlining at Barcelona’s LEM Festival for Experimental Music and the Omaha Under the Radar Festival; being featured artists at the MASA Jazz Festival in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, the Moab Music Festival’s Winterlude, and the Vancouver Island Music Festival; and launching the world premiere of their original work for the ensemble, narrator and full orchestra, “Brother Yasuke: The True Story of the Afro-Samurai”. 

W4RP Quartet’s collaborative partners range from orchestras to hip hop to jazz and pop artists. They have performed mind-blowing original orchestral programs with the Des Moines and Louisville Orchestras, as well as the Chesapeake Orchestra, Palaver Strings, and New York City’s Urban Playground Chamber Orchestra. In popular music, W4RP has long standing collaborations with spoken-word artist LiKWUiD as well as vocalists including Mirah, Raina Sokolov-Gonzalez, Claire Wellin (of San Fermin), and Rich; W4RP recently opened for Icelandic jazz-pop sensation Laufey at the Caroga Lake Music Festival.

Their education work has led them to numerous Colleges and Universities where they have presented their original workshops and masterclasses in improvisation and creative music making. Recent highlights include, the Royal Northern College of Music (Manchester, U.K.), North Carolina School of the Arts, James Madison University, Cal State LA, University of Iowa, UC Davis, University of the Virgin Islands (St. Thomas), and Syracuse University, among many others.  

Individually, the W4RP members hold degrees in performance from the Juilliard School, Cincinnati-College Conservatory of Music, and New York University. The beneficiaries of an incredibly diverse range of education, among the ensemble, they have received chamber music training from members of the Guarneri, Juilliard, Emerson, and La Salle Quartets as well as jazz instruction from figures such as Ray Anderson, Tony Moreno, Dave Pietro, and Mike Richmond.

As part of their EAR Residency, W4RP will be working with students from various regional schools, performing a community concert open to the public, on Friday April 24, 2026.

Bending genres and uplifting spirits, The Moanin’ Frogs offer an electrifying approach to chamber music. Conservatory trained and entertainment minded, their dynamic and technically precise performances of classical, ragtime, jazz, and pop delight fans across the world.

Featuring all six saxophones from soprano to bass, The Moanin’ Frogs are unique on today’s chamber music landscape. First prize winners of the 2018 M-Prize Chamber Arts Competition, their passion, quality, variety, instrumentation, and focus on the audience experience set them apart. Comfortable in a wide array of venues, The Moanin’ Frogs deliver artist-level performances to small towns and major performance halls alike, performing for concert series, as concerto soloists, and for educational programs throughout the US and abroad. The Moanin’ Frogs have appeared at The Kennedy Center, Kelowna Community Concerts, Detroit Public Television, American Band College, Texas and Oklahoma Bandmasters Associations, Conn-Selmer Institute, World Saxophone Congress, Strasbourg, France, and as concerto soloists with the United States Air Force Band of the West. Their debut recording is available from Teal Creek Music.

Online and in person, The Moanin’ Frogs inspire future generations through popular music videos, and interactive clinics and masterclasses for students and educators. The Moanin’ Frogs are performing and endorsing artists for D’Addario Woodwinds, the Conn-Selmer Division of Education, and Key Leaves.