John McGrosso and Julia Sakharova, violins,  Joanna Mendoza, viola, Kurt Baldwin cello

Known for their down-to-earth and personable approach to coaching and teaching, the Arianna String Quartet is regularly invited  as guest artists to music schools and festivals across the U.S. and South America. Esteemed institutions such as the Peabody Institute, Oberlin Conservatory, Arizona State University, University of Iowa, and St. Olaf College have engaged the ASQ for mini-residencies of lessons, coachings, master classes, and performances. The ASQ appears each summer at Madeline Island Chamber Music and at the Festival of Music in Santa Catarina, Brazil where they have been leading the Intensive Quartet Program since 2010.  They have also taught at Credo, Interlochen, and Green Mountain music festivals, and at festivals in Barra Mansa and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The ASQ's practical and immediately effective methods guide artistry and empower musicianship in students of all ages.

The Arianna String Quartet teaches full-time at the University of MO-St. Louis where they have been based since 2000. There, in addition to their work with students, they present their own series of concerts at the Touhill Performing Arts Center.  They enjoy working collaboratively with their colleagues from other disciplines including Philosophy, International Business, Nursing, and Visual Art, in lecture demonstrations and other projects both on and off campus. The ASQ's interactive series, entitled First Mondays at KWMU (St. Louis Public Radio), takes a behind-the-scenes look at music-making, the relationship of music with other disciplines, and the chemistry of quartet playing. 

The Arianna String Quartet has established itself as one of America's finest chamber ensembles. Their performances are recognized for their "tonal warmth, fastidious balance...expressive vitality" (Chicago Tribune) and "emotional commitment and fluent virtuosity," (Pretoria News, South Africa). Formed in 1992, the ASQ garnered national attention when they won the Grand Prize in the Fischoff Chamber Music Competition, First Prize in both the Coleman and Carmel Chamber Music Competitions, and as Laureates in the Bordeaux International String Quartet Competition.