Bergamot Quartet is fueled by a passion for exploring and advocating for the music of living composers, continually expanding the limits of the string quartet’s rich tradition in western classical music. With a priority given to music by women, they aim to place this new, genre-bending music in meaningful dialogue with the histories that precede it with creative programming, community-oriented audience building, and frequent commissioning

Bergamot values partnership and collaboration as a vital element of their creative work. Highlights of their 2022 season are releasing their debut album, In The Brink, on New Focus Recordings featuring a work by member Ledah Finck with percussionist Terry Sweeney as guest artist; a co-commission of Darian Thomas with Sō Percussion as part of Sō’s Flexible Commissions project, to be released as a collaborative album in 2022; a collaboration with Princeton University’s doctoral composers and Arx Duo, whose work Bergamot will premiere in March; and appearances at the New York City Center with NYCB principal dancer Tiler Peck.

In addition, Bergamot is particularly excited about helping young people discover their potential as music creators. Recent engagements include being the 2020-2021 virtual ensemble-in-residence for the Junior Bach program at the Peabody Institute and for MATA Jr. 2021, and workshopping/performing undergraduates’ pieces at Towson University and University of Maryland Baltimore County.

Their upcoming performances include a residency with Peabody Conservatory, and various appearances at New York City venues including The Owl Music Parlor, Mise_en Place, Carnegie Hall with the Mannes Sounds Festival, and Alice Tully Hall with the Mannes Symphony Orchestra for the New York premiere of Gabriela Lena Frank’s Walkabout: Concerto for Orchestra.

Bergamot Quartet is Ledah Finck and Sarah Thomas, violins; Amy Tan, viola; and Irène Han, cello. Founded at the Peabody Institute in Baltimore in 2016, Bergamot Quartet is based in New York City and is currently the Graduate String Quartet in Residence at the Mannes School of Music.

Maggie Cox is a double bassist from Northeast Ohio. Maggie is currently pursuing a post-baccalaureate degree at the Curtis Institute of Music, where she studies with Hal Robinson and Edgar Meyer. She recently graduated from Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music, where she was a student of Paul Ellison and worked closely with Tim Pitts.

A lover of new music and unconventional performances, Maggie has performed with the Houston-based ensembles KINETIC and Loop38. Maggie performed Darian Donovan Thomas’s A Disintegrating Foundation Under a Catastrophe of Air as a part of the 2021 Curtis Student Recital Series. In December 2020, Maggie presented a recital of new works for double bass written by women as part of the Illuminate Women’s Music digital concert series. Maggie’s junior recital at Rice included the Houston premieres of both Ondas, by Sonia Ray, and Pantomime, by Sofia Gubaidalina. In 2018, as a fellow at the Music Academy of the West, Maggie premiered Timothy Higgins’ Nursery Crimes, performing alongside soprano Deborah Voigt. Additionally, In January 2021, Maggie was a featured performer at the virtual International New Music Festival.

Maggie is a passionate advocate for a more equitable society in the music world and beyond. While at Rice, Maggie earned a minor in Poverty, Justice, and Human Capabilities. As a student in the PJHC program, Maggie organized a series of benefit concerts called Artists for Action, bringing together musicians of all genres and backgrounds for an evening of music and community engagement. Maggie is a co-founder of PAGE (the Project for All Gender Equity) and led the first-ever panel discussion on gender and double bass at the 2018 International Society of Bassists convention at Indiana University. Maggie returned to the 2021 ISB Convention to host a second panel highlighting gender disparities in the bass community. Maggie co-authored the controversial 2018 article, “Why ‘bass boiz’ Isn’t Funny”. Maggie also appeared in the International Society of Bassist’s Center Stage series several times, participating in a feature of Bass Players for Black Composers and leading a panel discussion on diversity in the bass community. In 2021, Maggie’s performances were featured in recitals organized by Bass Players for Black Composers and Sound Off: Music for Bail. Maggie has been interviewed on NPR’s Morning Edition, WHYY, Jason Heath’s Contrabass Conversations, Trysteropod, and Cafe Ribbit.

Maggie has spent her summers at the Tanglewood Music Center, Music Academy of the West, Sarasota Music Festival, Domaine Forget International Academy, and the Wabass Institute. In 2022, Maggie is looking forward to participating in the Spoleto Festival USA’s Orchestra and attending the Aspen Music Festival as a fellowship recipient and student of Edgar Meyer. Maggie has played under the baton of many noteworthy conductors, including Gustavo Dudamel, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Andris Nelsons, Stephen Deneve, Elim Chan, Thomas Ades, and Larry Rachleff. Her teachers and mentors have included Hal Robinson, Edgar Meyer, Paul Ellison, Tim Pitts, Craig Knox, Tracy Rowell, Henry Peyrebrune, and Bryan Thomas.

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