The first composer to win the Berlin Prize, Laura Schwendinger is professor of composition at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her music has been performed by all the leading new music artists and ensembles around the world and she has received numerous awards and commissions including those from the Guggenheim, Koussevitzky and Fromm Foundations. Her second recording for Albany Records features four works for quartets: two for the traditional string quartet; one for mezzo soprano and three strings; and one for piano quartet. The music is performed by the acclaimed JACK Quartet, mezzo-soprano Jamie Van Eyck, and pianist Christopher Taylor.