ABOUT UNHEARD-OF
Ford Fourqurean (clarinet), Matheus Souza (violin), Iva Casian-Lakoš (cello), and Daniel Anastasio (piano) are Unheard-of, a Brooklyn-based clarinet, violin, cello, and piano quartet dedicated to connecting new music to communities in New York and across the United States through the development and performance of adventurous programs using technology and interactive multimedia. Unheard-of is committed to the idea that new music belongs in every community, and implements this mission through concerts and educational workshops throughout New York as well as on tour. Unheard-of originally started as a commissioning project by Ford and Daniel in 2014 to expand the chamber music repertoire for clarinet and piano. The group formed as a quartet in 2018 and has since grown into a nation-wide community across multiple artistic genres. With an approach that is open and welcoming of all voices, Unheard-of strives to be a vehicle for development and growth for voices novel and experienced, experimental and traditional, uncomfortable and accessible.
HIGHLIGHTS
The 2025–2026 season features premieres by Leila Adu, David Bird, Christian Quiñones, and Matt McBane, celebrating more than a decade of composer collaborations. Unheard-of and Christopher Stark will release their second full-length studio album, Fire Ecologies, on September 19, 2025, on New Focus Recordings. This season’s Dialogues series opens October 18 with a guided retrospective of the rarely-heard “Dahl” instrumentation clarinet, violin, and cello highlighting the iconic Concerto a Tre alongside works by Meg Okura and Du Yun. In December, the series teams up with Tribeca New Music, and in April it partners with NYU for a residency collaboration, presenting a concert experience created by members of NYU’s composition studio.
The 2026 Cultural Ecologies summer series continues Unheard-of’s commitment to exploring new sounds, spaces, and modes of engagement with the Brooklyn community. On May 23, Discocactus opens with a set inspired by video game music, jazz, and pop, followed by the premiere of a multimedia commission from David Bird. In June, Ford creates a new site-specific work performed from canoes, tracing the flow of the Gowanus Canal from the Flushing Tunnel to the 2nd Street Boathouse. The performance closes with Brooklyn-based folk ensemble The Ladles. In August, the series features a newly choreographed version of Wave Ring by Gity Razaz, and concludes with a premiere by Matt McBane paired with a set by Isabel Hagen—acclaimed violist and stand-up comedian—offering an evening that fuses electroacoustic music with accessible comedy.
On tour, Unheard-of visits Oberlin Conservatory, Ohio State University, Ohio University, and the Johnstone Fund in November; the University of Missouri–Kansas City in February; and embarks on a Florida tour in March, performing at the University of Central Florida, Florida State University, and the University of Florida.
SUPPORT
Unheard-of’s work has been supported by the New York State Council on the Arts, the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, New Music USA, the Johnstone Fund for New Music, the Dwight and Ursula Mamlok Foundation, the Tennessee Arts Commission, the Foundation for Contemporary Arts, the Barlow Endowment, the Amphion Foundation, the Alice M. Ditson Fund, the Aaron Copland Fund for Music, the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, the New York Women Composers Organization, the Brooklyn Arts Council, and the Puffin Foundation. The ensemble was a recipient of a Chamber Music America Classical Commissioning Grant to commission Rome Prize–winner Christopher Stark, the 2023 Artistic Projects Grant for its Cultural Ecologies series, and a 2020 Chamber Music America Ensemble Forward Grant made possible by the New York Community Trust.
EDUCATION
Now in its eighth year, Unheard-of’s annual Collaborative Composition Initiative continues to engage composers in immersive, community-based projects. Recent festivals in San Antonio featured performances at landmark venues such as Mission San José, Mission Concepción, The McNay Art Museum, Confluence Park, Evergreen Garden, Ruby City, Agarita Loft, and the UTSA Arts Cube. The fourth festival took place across Brooklyn, including performances on canoes in the Gowanus Canal, at Mise-en_Place, and at Scholes Street Studio. Earlier years were hosted online and at Stony Brook University.