Kaia String Quartet
& Ken Reif

Kaia String Quartet

From the tango of the Rio de la Plata to the string quartets of Silvestre Revueltas, the KAIA String Quartet is an ensemble devoted to promoting the rich and colorful music of Latin America. Active performers in both the US and abroad, highlights of the 2022-2023 season included a collaboration with Jazz singer Paul Marinaro and performances at Chicago area venues including the Morton Arboretum, the Mozart Immersive Experience, Chamber Music on the Fox and the Kenilworth Assembly Hall. The quartet's most recent tour of Uruguay and Argentina included a performance at Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires.

The Quartet plays an active role in Chicago's music scene and has performed at the Chicago Latino Music Festival, the Ear Taxi Festival, and Chamber Music on the Fox. In 2017, KAIA was the first ensemble in residence at Chicago's classical radio station, WFMT. During this residency they explored the world of Latin classical music with audiences through daily radio segments, performances and broadcasts around the city and the production of KAIA Kids, a series of children's education videos.

Celebrated by Downbeat magazine for its ability to "beautifully blur the lines between jazz, classical, Latin and world music" KAIA’s album collaboration with Fareed Haque was chosen by Chicago Tribune’s Howard Reich as one of the top ten classical recordings of 2018. Their album, Sureño, explores the music and relationship of Argentinian composers Astor Piazzolla and José Bragato. The latest recording project released in 2020 includes a collaboration with jazz pianist Ryan Cohan in his work Originations. KAIA together with Cohan and his chamber ensemble were featured performing this piece at 2019 Chicago's Jazz Fest main stage.