Four voices, one woven sound — Damask performs the rich and rarely-heard repertoire written for vocal quartet, from the piano-accompanied chamber works of Schubert, Schumann, Brahms and Haydn to newly commissioned music of the 20th and 21st centuries.
Katharine Dain
Soprano
Marine Fribourg
Mezzo-soprano · Artistic Director
Davy Cornillot
Tenor
Eric Ander
Baritone
a remarkable fusion of timbres and palpable collaborative energy ON Magazine
Since 2014
Damask has given voice to a repertoire too rarely heard: chamber works for four solo singers, sometimes with piano, sometimes a cappella, ranging from the Romantic quartets of Brahms and his contemporaries to new commissions by living composers including Gregory Spears, Reiko Füting, Lewis Nielson, and Federico Mosquera. The ensemble takes its name from the luxurious woven textile pattern that emerged from 14th-century Damascus — a meeting point of trade routes where materials, ideas and techniques were exchanged freely. It’s an apt image for a quartet that weaves together distinct repertoires, traditions, and musical personalities into a single, unified sound.