Peak Fellowship Ensemble-in-Residence

The Peak Fellowship Ensemble-in-Residence, launched in 2015, is a multi-year fellowship available to chamber music groups internationally.

The fellowship includes a generous annual stipend; participation in master classes and workshops with visiting artists; access to rehearsal space on the SMU campus; extensive teaching and performance opportunities in Dallas; and more.

The Peak Fellowship program is coordinated by award-winning violinist Aaron Boyd, director of chamber music at SMU Meadows. Boyd will help the group members plan artistic and pedagogical goals to place them on a sustainable, differentiated career path after the completion of the fellowship.

News and Media

SMU Meadows Announces Collaboration With Renowned Banff International String Quartet Competition

SMU Meadows School of the Arts announces a new collaboration with the renowned Banff International String Quartet Competition (BISQC) in Canada that will offer SMU’s Peak Fellowship Ensemble-in-Residence Prize to the competition’s first place laureate. The Banff International String Quartet Competition, a program of Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity in Banff, Alberta, is one of the world’s leading music competitions. Founded in 1983 and held once every three years, BISQC invites 10 select quartets from around the globe to Banff Centre to perform various pieces of work over seven days, competing for the top prize: a three-year career development program worth over $150,000. It includes a cash award, concert tours throughout Europe and North America, and a Banff Centre residency that includes the production of a recording.

Marmen and Viano Quartets, Joint First-Place Winners of 2019 Banff International String Quartet Competition, To Be SMU Meadows School of the Arts’ Peak Fellowship Ensembles-in-Residence Beginning in Fall 2020

The Los Angeles-based Viano String Quartet and the London-based Marmen Quartet, which in September both tied as first-place winners of the renowned Banff International String Quartet Competition (BISQC) in Canada, will become the newest Peak Fellowship Ensembles-in-Residence at SMU Meadows School of the Arts, beginning in fall 2020.

SMU Meadows began a new collaboration with BISQC last year to offer the Peak residency prize to the competition’s first place laureate. The Viano and Marmen quartets will share the residency.