Choose a box, any box, and the Real Vocal String Quartet will think outside of it. They’re a string quartet and a women’s vocal quartet. They play Irish fiddle tunes and Brazilian choros, chamber music and wild improvisation. They backed up Feist on her indie-pop hit Metals, which Jon Pareles of the New York Times named his favorite album of 2011, and appeared with her on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Rik Malone of KQED Arts has described their music as "by turns beautiful, haunting, mesmerizing, and foot-stomping fun." The U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs chose the quartet to be musical ambassadors as part of next year's American Music Abroad program. Their self-titled debut album is a "marvelous accomplishment" and a "breathtaking bouquet with one luscious hybrid after another," according to KQED's California Report, and the group is about to release a new album.

Violinist and vocalist Irene Sazer founded the group seven years ago. An original member of the famed Turtle Island String Quartet, she wanted to combine her musical passions — chamber music, improvising, composing, and singing. She found ideal collaborators in Alisa Rose on violin and vocals, Dina Maccabee on viola and vocals, and Jessica Ivry on cello and vocals. Irene has played with artists as diverse as Frank Sinatra and Bjork, Ray Charles and Ali Akbar Khan. She founded and currently directs the School of Strings and String Improvisation here in Berkeley. Alisa is a member of the Grammy-nominated Quartet San Francisco and has played with Michelle Shocked, Josh Ritter, and Bauhuas, as well as on PBS's Song of the Mountains with A.J. Roach and the Strange Pilgrims. Dina, too, has played with an eclectic mix of performers including Wilco, Donovan, Tin Hat, and Sufjan Stevens, and has composed scores for the Shotgun Players and several San Francisco film makers. Jessica plays with avant-cabaret composer and singer Amy X Neuburg & the Cello ChiXtet and has toured with the Beth Custer Ensemble, singer-songwriter Vienna Teng, and Balkan women’s choir Kitka.

The Real Vocal String Quartet brings together a world of music and a wealth of musical possibilities.

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