Chicago Tribune: The next accordion star

"Their mission," says Labro, referring to the Spektrals, "is to make sure to play new music and traditional repertoire from all genres. And I always wanted to show people that there is music beyond Piazzollla. … That there is life after Piazzolla."

Certainly there is in "From This Point Forward," which marks the beginning of Labro's partnership with the Spektral Quartet, not the end. For their next recording, they plan to venture into contemporary classical music.

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The Telegraph: The new ring-tone composers

"There’s nothing so irritating as someone else’s ring-tone. First comes the jolt to one’s nerves. Then comes the thought, “You really think THAT’s amusing/good to hear?”, as a burst of One Direction or a mooing cow scrapes tinnily at one’s ears. Of course our own ring-tone is always a model of discreet wit and taste. And yet when it rings we’re always desperate to turn it off, which shows wit and taste aren’t really the issue. The ring-tone is simply beyond redemption. It’s irritation in its purest form, like cold calls or being put on hold.  

The Spektral Quartet, a Chicago-based string quartet, begs to disagree. They think a ring-tone can be a moment of aural delight, and have commissioned 65 brand-new ring-tone-sized pieces to prove it, all available to download from the quartet’s website. They range from one second in duration to 40, and have been written by 47 American composers of all ages, races and styles."

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Chicago Classical Review: Haydn’s “Seven Last Words” finds luminous expression with Seraphic Fire and Spektral Quartet

 "The Spektral Quartet performed The Seven Last Words alone in Rockefeller Chapel in March 2013, and as a resident ensemble at the University of Chicago, they know how to adjust their performance for the chapel’s acoustics. Each instrumental line, especially the sweet but steely sound of Aurelien Fort Pederzoli’s solo violin, was clear, but the overall texture had a velvet edge. In the sixth movement (“Jesus cried out: I thirst”) of the nine-movement piece, the plucked violins and violas sounded like guitars gliding through a hushed lullaby. This was religious meditation with a gentle edge rather than the sharp angles and angry undercurrent of heaven-storming fire and brimstone." 

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Huffington Post: These Game-Changing Ringtones Bring The Symphony To The Streets

"Think of it as public art -- except that it's on your phone.  

Thanks to an innovative new initiative from the Chicago-based contemporary classical ensemble Spektral Quartet, cell phone users will no longer be limited to a selection of dreary, muzak-esque sound bites or blaring, regrettable Top 40 clips when it comes to choosing their ringtones.

Late last month, the quartet launched Mobile Miniatures, a new Kickstarter-backedproject where they commissioned over 45 different composers -- including familiar names like Nico Muhly, Julia Holter, the Dirty Projectors' Olga Bell and Pulitzer Prize winners Shulamit Ran and David Lang -- to create original pieces specifically intended to serve as ringtones. The ensemble then performed and recorded the compositions, putting them up for sale on their website."

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