Delray String Quartet

The Delray String Quartet of Delray Beach, Florida, has provided a strong chamber music component to South Florida's classical music scene, enlivened by the presence of numerous transplants from the U.S. Northeast among both musicians and audiences. Though its members hail from various places, all have a strong connection to South Florida and its musical institutions. Founder and first violinist Mei Mei Luo has been a longstanding member of Florida's music scene, serving as concertmaster of Orchestra Miami and Miami City Ballet’s Opus One Orchestra. Since 2000 she has been a regular member of the Palm Beach Chamber Music Festival, and she was assistant concertmaster of the Florida Philharmonic Orchestra when it disbanded in 2003. Second violinist Valentin Mansurov studied music in his native Uzbekistan, and in Turkey, France, and Canada before settling in Florida and taking posts with the Florida Grand Opera, Palm Beach Opera, Atlantic Classical Orchestra, and Henry Mancini Institute Orchestra. Moldovan-born violist Felicia Besan moved to Florida from Bucharest, Romania, majoring in music at Boca Raton's Lynn University and graduating in 2011. She has performed chamber music at the Manchester International Festival in England. Brazilian-born cellist Claudio Jaffé received four degrees from Yale University. He is principal cellist of both the Florida Grand Opera and the Palm Beach Symphony Orchestra, and he served as dean of Lynn University's Conservatory of Music. The Delray String Quartet performs several concerts annually, attracting guest artists of international caliber, at a variety of venues, including Palm Beach Atlantic University, the Colony Hotel in Delray Beach, and All Saints Episcopal Church and Broward College in Fort Lauderdale. Its concerts are notable for the inclusion of spoken introductions to the music played, contrasting with the usual abstract presentation of chamber music. The group has made several recordings for the Centaur and Naxos labels, releasing an album of string quartets by Richard Danielpour on the latter in 2018.
© James Manheim /TiVo