The Lyris Quartet – described as „radiant, exquisite and powerfully engaged“ by Mark Swed of the LA Times – was founded in 2008. Members of the quartet have won top prizes at the International Tchaikovsky Competition and at Aspen Music Festival and have collaborated with renowned artists.

Leoš Janáček‘s Second String Quartet, subtitled Intimate Letters, holds a special place in the repertoire of the Los Angeles-based Lyris Quartet, having been the first work that the group performed in public. Considerung the role that this dynamic and emotionally charged work player in the formation of the ensemble, it comes as no surprise that they have turned to it once again, this time using it as an anchor for an album of newly composed response to Janáček‘s original.