Biography

The Indianapolis Quartet, founded in 2016, currently serves as quartet-in-residence at the University of Indianapolis. Praised for “its energetic, often kinetic, enthusiasm, and each player’s individual virtuosity and flexibility” (New York Concert Review), the members’ palpable rapport and interpretive skills bring about performances of a unique emotional style that have earned the group critical acclaim and audience adoration.

The Indianapolis Quartet garnered accolades for its Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall debut in March 2020, premiering Robert Paterson’s String Quartet No. 3 “in a tour de force of tight ensemble and interplay” (New York Classical Review), along with works by Debussy, Schumann, and Frank Felice.

The ensemble has performed at Lutkin Hall at Northwestern University in Chicago, Indiana Landmarks Center, Tippecanoe Chamber Music Society in Lafayette, Indiana, Illinois Wesleyan University, St. Francis@4 series in Cincinnati, and the Duckwall Artist Series at Butler University, among other engagements. The have also served as ensemble-in-residence at the Taconic Music Festival in Manchester, Vermont, Sonoran Chamber Music Festival at Arizona State University and at Indiana State University’s 53rd annual Contemporary Music Festival.

They have also given numerous live performances on Vermont Public Radio, WBAA Classical 101.3 FM in West Lafayette, Indiana, and on WISH-TV in Indianapolis.

Guest artist collaborations on their home series at the Christel DeHaan Fine Arts Center in Indianapolis and on tour have included acclaimed performances with renowned concert artists Mark Kosower, Todd Palmer, Atar Arad, Eric Kim, Drew Petersen, Soyeon Kate Lee, Carrie Dennis, Nick Canellakis, and Orli Shaham. “The quartet and Shaham fashioned a reading of great tenderness and variety, serious as all get-out when it needed to be, exuberantly driven when appropriate, and fully responsive to that summit of Brahmsiness, the Allegro non troppo.” (Jay Harvey Upstage)

In addition to their extensive repertoire of classical, romantic and 20^th-century works, the Indianapolis Quartet has commissioned and performed new works by Robert Paterson, Frank Felice, Matthew Bridgham, and John Berners. The ensemble can be heard on composer Frank Felice’s monograph recording Reflections and Whimsies: Chamber Music for Strings and Voice.

Robert Paterson’s complete string quartets will be released in 2022 for the AMR label.

MEMBERS

Zachary DePue, violin

Zachary DePue has established himself in concert venues around the world delivering virtuosic high-energy performances. He demonstrates command as a leader, soloist, collaborator, and improvisational artist reaching across a diverse landscape of music. His authentic warmth and generosity on stage invites audiences to join him in all his explorations.
DePue became one of the youngest concertmasters in the country when he was appointed to the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra (ISO) in 2007. For more than a decade, DePue served the orchestra as a passionate and dedicated leader both in and outside the concert hall. He was named a member of the Stanley K. Lacy Executive Leadership Series, connecting Indianapolis’ emerging leaders to the issues and needs of the community.
DePue rose to international prominence as a founding member of Time for Three, with whom he performed for 15 years. During his tenure with the category-defying trio, he made numerous tours and gave high-profile appearances, including a performance on the 2014 semifinals round of ABC’s Dancing with the Stars. They were the ISO’s first ensemble-in-residence, charged with introducing new audiences to the symphony experience and breathing fresh creative life into the orchestra’s Happy Hour Concert Series. DePue recorded four albums of original music and arrangements with Time For Three. Their 2014 release featured collabora-tions with ukulele phenom Jake Shimabukuro on “Happy Day,” the uplifting DePue-penned opening cut; saxophonist Branford Marsalis in the rollicky original “Queen of Voodoo;” cel-list Alisa Weilerstein in a quartet version of Rachmaninoff’s “Vocalise;” and sing-er/songwriter Joshua Radin in four of his early songs. The trio members were active creative partners in the commissioning of new pieces which were vehicles for collaborations with or-chestras and the ensemble. Composers Jennifer Higdon, William Bolcom, and Chris Brubeck each contributed substantial pieces leading the trio to performances with orchestras across the country including the Philadelphia Orchestra, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Pitts-burgh Symphony Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra at their home venue and for their 2013 Carnegie Hall appearance, Chicago Symphony Orchestra at Ravinia, Wheeling Symphony, Brevard Festival Orchestra, among many others. The Trio also recorded Higdon’s Concerto 4-3 with the Forth Worth Symphony Orchestra and appears on their 2012 Take Six release.

In 2021 Zach was appointed concertmaster for Carmel Symphony Orchestra and joined the faculty at Meridian Music School.

DePue’s earliest introduction to the stage came through performances with his family. He is the youngest of four brothers—all violinists—who make up The DePue Brothers Band, an eclectic ensemble that blends bluegrass and classical music, with elements of jazz, blues and rock. DePue graduated in 2002 from the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, where he served as concertmaster of the Curtis Symphony Orchestra and studied with renowned violinists Ida Kavafian and Jaime Laredo. He is a former member of the Philadelphia Orchestra where he performed in the first violin section for five years. He performs on a violin made by Giuseppe Rocca of Turin, Italy, in 1846.

Joana Genova, violin

Bulgarian-born violinist Joana Genova has built a diverse career as a chamber and orchestral musician, soloist, and pedagogue. She is assistant professor and director of chamber music initiatives at the University of Indianapolis, and co-artistic director of Taconic Music in Manchester, Vermont. She joined The Indianapolis Quartet in 2017.

Genova performs regularly at the Faculty Artist Concert Series at the University of Indianapolis, concertizes with Williams and Taconic Chamber Players, and appears as a frequent guest at festivals and concert series. She has performed internationally in Bulgaria, Holland, Germany, Italy, and Bosnia-Herzegovina and has enjoyed collaborations with the Shanghai Quartet, Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio, Horszowski Trio, Enso Quartet, Toby Appel, Andrés Cárdenes, Carmit Zori, Nathaniel Rosen, Michael Haber, Danwen Jiang, Austin Hartman, Renee Jolles, Michael Rudiakov, Tom Landschoot, Sophie Shao, Jon Klibonoff, Ruth Laredo, Davide Cabassi, David Krakauer, Deborah Buck and Drew Petersen.

Her recordings include Chamber Music of Vittorio Giannini (MSR Classics), Vision: Music of the 20th and 21st Centuries (Eroica Classical Recordings) and Four Seasons x2: Piazzolla and Vivaldi (Manchester Music Festival).

As soloist, Genova has been featured with the Metropolitan, Rockaway, Danbury, and Berkshire symphonies, Adelphi Chamber Orchestra, Harlem Chamber Players, Manchester Festival Orchestra, Yonkers Philharmonic, and under the baton of Raymond Leppard with the University of Indianapolis Gala Orchestra. She was concertmaster of the Amsterdam Bach Consort and a member of Amsterdam Sinfonietta, Brooklyn Philharmonic and New Haven Symphony Orchestra. Currently Genova holds positions as artist associate at Williams College, principal second violin of the Berkshire Symphony Orchestra in Massachusetts, and associate concertmaster of the Carmel Symphony in Indiana.

Genova made her solo debut at age 12 with the Plovdiv Chamber Orchestra and is a top prizewinner of the Svetoslav Obretenov National Competition in Bulgaria. She earned her bachelor’s degree at the Conservatory of Amsterdam and her master’s in chamber music at the Rotterdam Conservatory. Her teachers include Boyanka Shopova, Alexander Spirov, Peter Brunt, Ilya Grubert, and Samuel Thaviu. Genova performs on a Johannes Cuypers violin made in The Hague in 1786.

Michael Strauss, viola

Known for his “rich tone and lyrical acumen” (Chicago Tribune), violist Michael Isaac Strauss has performed around the world as a soloist, recitalist, in chamber music, and in symphonic settings. He made his solo debut with the Minnesota Orchestra in 1990 and has since appeared as featured solo or recording artist with the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, Orchestra 2001, Charleston Symphony, Harrisburg Symphony, and Camerata Chicago, among others. During his 20-year tenure as the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra principal violist, Strauss was also featured as soloist or collaborator in duo roles nearly every season.
Strauss’ recent and upcoming engagements include TIQ’s New York debut at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, his chamber music performances with Yehuda Hanani on the series Close Encounters with Music, concerts with Urban Troubadours in Ohio, a solo recital in Philadelphia with pianist Hugh Sung, and featured solo appearances with the Youngstown Symphony Orchestra. Strauss serves on the performing artist roster and faculty at the Green Mountain Chamber Music Festival and the Berkshire High Peaks Festival.
A former member of the distinguished Fine Arts Quartet, Strauss performed across the U.S. and Europe and at festivals such as Schleswig-Holstein, Bayreuth, and Montpellier. In North America, Strauss has collaborated at summer festivals including LaJolla, Caramoor, Banff, Sewanee, and Eastern Music Festival. In recent concert seasons, he has performed string quintet works with the Calder, Cavani and Jupiter quartets. Recent festival faculty appointments and performances include the Green Mountain Chamber Music Festival and the Berkshire High Peaks Festival. Strauss has performed and taught at the Beijing International Music Festival & Academy, Hawaii Performing Arts Festival, Sunflower Music Festival, and Brevard Music Festival.
Numerous recordings featuring Strauss can be found on the labels of I Virtuosi (debut recording of Jennifer Higdon’s Viola Sonata), CRI (David Finko’s Viola Concerto and 20th century chamber music works with the Philadelphia-based Orchestra 2001), Lyrinx (Mozart’s complete viola quintets with the Fine Arts Quartet in SACD), and Centaur (Stamitz’s works for solo viola with orchestra; reissue of David Finko’s Viola Concerto). He is also the featured recording artist on the Suzuki® Viola School Volumes 8 and 9.
A devoted teacher, Strauss serves on the faculty of the Dana School of Music at Youngstown State University and the University of Indianapolis. He regularly presents master classes and coaches developing to advanced students and professionals in orchestral audition preparation. He has previously held faculty positions at Oberlin Conservatory of Music, Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, Roosevelt University, DePauw University, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Butler University, University of the Arts in Philadelphia, and Swarthmore College.
Strauss’s work has been honored with the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts Cinnamon Award, First Prize of the WAMSO Competition of the Minnesota Orchestra, Ealing prize at the Tertis International Viola Competition, Artist Fellowship Awards from South Carolina and Indiana, and a Creative Renewal Fellowship Award from the Arts Council of Indianapolis.
A native of Iowa, Strauss began his viola studies in Iowa City’s public schools. He continued under the tutelage of William Preucil, Sr., John Graham, and Karen Tuttle. He received additional training at Mannes College of Music and the Banff Centre for the Arts. Strauss is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music and performs on a viola attributed to Matteo Albani of Bolzano, Italy in 1704.

Austin Huntington, cello

Austin Huntington was appointed principal cellist of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra in June 2015 at the age of 20, currently making him one of the youngest principal musicians of any major American orchestra. He is also a member of the Mainly Mozart Festival Orchestra in San Diego, California and was recently a finalist for the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s principal cello position in March 2018. Austin is the grand-prize winner of the 2012 Irving M. Klein International String Competition, the 2011 Stulberg International String Competition, the 2012 MUSICAAS International String Competition, the 2013 Aspen Music Festival’s Low String Strings Competition, and the 2009 MTNA National String Competition, as well as a top prize winner at the 2013 Schadt National Cello Competition. An avid chamber musician, he has collaborated in chamber music performances with artists such as violinists Itzhak Perlman, Gil Shaham, Renaud Capucon, Augustin Hadelich, and Anne Akiko Meyers, violist Cynthia Phelps, cellists Robert DeMaine and Mark Kosower, pianists Wu Han, Garrick Ohlssohn, and Jean-Yves Thibaudet, and bassist Edgar Meyer. Since his first solo orchestra debut at age 10, he has gone on to perform as a guest soloist with orchestras such as the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Marin Symphony, Colburn Orchestra, Salomon Chamber Orchestra, Peninsula Symphony, Santa Cruz Symphony, South Bend Symphony, San Jose Chamber Orchestra, and Chicago Northwest Symphony Orchestra. In the summer, Austin has attended the Verbier Festival (Switzerland), the Kronberg Academy (Germany), the Aspen Music Festival and School, Music in the Vineyards (Napa, California), the Perlman Music Program, the Academie International de Music de Montpellier (France), the Credo Chamber Music Festival, and the Meadowmount School of Music. Austin is a member of the faculty at the University of Indianapolis, where he is also the cellist of The Indianapolis Quartet, the University’s string quartet-in-residence. He is also the chair of the Indianapolis Suzuki Academy’s Board of Directors, a member of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra’s Artistic Advisory Committee, and was previously an adjunct lecturer at Indiana University.

Huntington earned a bachelor’s degree at the Colburn School Conservatory of Music, where he was a protégé of Ronald Leonard. He completed a master’s degree at Indiana University, where he studied with Eric Kim. His previous teachers include Richard Hirschl, Brinton Smith, Paul Katz, David Finckel, and Richard Aaron. He plays on an Italian cello made in Florence, circa 1740.

He plays on a beautiful old Italian cello made in Florence, c. 1740.