Here’s another plug for a friend. My cousin Yuming Chiu started this fabulous group, and below is a short bio from their website. He used to be the violist, but now he just manages the group.

“Founded while students at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), the Alcantara Piano Quartet has been praised for their creativity and excellence in performing at concerts throughout the Los Angeles area. The Alcantara Piano Quartet was a finalist in the Coleman Chamber Ensemble Competition in Pasadena in 2006 and 2007, and a semi-finalist in the 2006 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition in South Bend, Indiana. They have performed on the Concertos Pomeridiano concert series in Manhattan Beach and Beverly Hills, the South Bay Chamber Music Society concert series in Palos Verdes, and the Sunday concert series at the Richard Nixon Library in Yorba Linda. The members of the Alcantara Piano Quartet are graduates of such distinguished schools as the Juilliard School, University of Michigan, Lamont School of Music at the University of Denver, and UCLA. The quartet hopes to ensure the legacy of classical music and build upon each performance to reach new audiences.”

www.alcantaramusic.com