The BEAR Quartet is part of the chamber program at the Gifted Music School Conservatory in Salt Lake City and is coached by Eugene Watanabe (Founder and Artistic Director, GMS), Anne Francis Bayless (Fry Street Quartet) and Rainer Eudeikis (Utah Symphony). Formed in the Fall of 2017, the quartet takes its name from an acronym of its member’s names: Benson Marshall, cello, Ellen Hayashi, violin; Abby Smith, viola; and Rachel Call, violin. Locally in the past year, the quartet performed for the Utah State Senate, won the Utah Symphony Youth Guild Recital, and participated in masterclasses with Laurie Smukler of the Juilliard School and Sel Kardan of the Colburn School. The Quartet also was named the 2018 Best of Utah Youth Small Ensemble. Nationally, the quartet took the bronze prize at the St. Paul String Quartet Competition and was the gold prize winner at two national competitions: The Pasadena Conservatory of Music Chamber Music Competition in California and the WDAV Young Chamber Musicians’ Competition in North Carolina.
