At home performing on a street corner in Mattapan Square, the Kennedy Center in D.C. and the Harvard Musical Association in Boston, the Boston Public Quartet was created to connect, inspire and innovate as an ensemble-in-residence in Boston’s diverse neighborhoods. The BPQ is dedicated to normalizing the amplification of historically excluded voices. Through concerts, educational workshops and non-traditional performances we look forward to sharing our music and experiences with you.
In addition to performing on the Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage, The Boston Public Quartet has collaborated with Sidra Bell Dance New York, and was the inaugural ensemble in residence for the Celebrity Series of Boston’s Neighborhood Arts initiative from 2012 - 2016. Collectively we have performed with the Boston Ballet, Emmanuel Music, the Back Bay Chorale, Castle of our Skins, the Sphinx Symphony, the Boston Modern Orchestra Project and the Catalyst Quartet. Also, members have collaborated with musicians of the New York Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra.
We are graduates of the New England Conservatory, Juilliard, Harvard, University of Michigan, University of South Florida, Boston Conservatory at Berklee and Florida State University. As avid educators of both string instrument study and chamber music, we teach and have taught at such institutions as Project STEP, musiConnects, and Boston Youth Symphony’s Intensive Community Program. Founded in 2007 by violinist Betsy Hinkle, the Boston Public Quartet served until 2018as a Resident Ensemble of musiConnects. The Boston Public Quartet is excited to take on new adventures in programming and performances in 2024. Hinkle is joined by Violinist Grant Houston, Pianist Joy Cline Phinney, Violist Jason Amos, and Cellist Nicholas Johnson,. They are frequently joined by guest artists.
