{{Short description|American chamber orchestra}} {{for|the 1959 film|A Far Cry (film)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=April 2025}} '''A Far Cry''' is a Boston-based chamber orchestra. The orchestra is self-conducted and consists of 18 musicians called "The Criers". It was founded in 2007 by a group of 17 musicians in Boston. The orchestra performs in Jamaica Plain and previously served as Chamber Orchestra in Residence at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. A Far Cry has toured across America and undertook its first European tour in 2012. It also collaborates with local students in an educational partnership with the New England Conservatory and Project STEP. The orchestra has released nine albums,<ref>{{Cite web |title=A Far Cry |url=https://www.afarcry.org/ |access-date=2022-07-22 |website=A Far Cry |language=en-US}}</ref> two of which have been nominated for Grammy Awards for Best Chamber Music / Small Ensemble Performance: ''Dreams & Prayers'' in 2015 and ''Visions and Variations'' in 2019.

==The Criers== '''Alex Fortes''' is a violinist from San Diego with degrees from Harvard College and Mannes College. His teachers include Mark Steinberg, Peter Zazofsky, Hernan Constantino, Mary Gerard, and Michael Gaisler.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Alex Fortes |url=https://www.afarcry.org/bios/alex |access-date=2022-07-22 |website=A Far Cry |date=February 18, 2015 |language=en-US}}</ref>

'''Annie Rabbat''' is a violinist from Chicago who received her bachelor's degree from Indiana University and her master's degree from the Juilliard School. After a year at Stony Brook University, she went to the New England Conservatory. Her mentors include Miriam Fried, Robert Mann, Pamela Frank, Ani Kavafian, and Phil Setzer.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Annie Rabbat |url=https://www.afarcry.org/bios/annie |access-date=2022-07-22 |website=A Far Cry |language=en-US}}</ref>

'''Caitlin Lynch''' is a violist whose musical career has led her to perform worldwide in collaboration with artists ranging from Itzhak Perlman to Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2015-02-17 |title=Caitlin Lynch |url=https://www.afarcry.org/bios/caitlin |access-date=2024-08-21 |website=A Far Cry |language=en-US}}</ref>

'''Celia Hatton''' is a violist based in New York City. She earned her Bachelor’s Degree with Kim Kashkashian from New England Conservatory receiving a Presidential Distinction Award Scholarship. She received her master's degree and professional studies certificate from Manhattan School of Music, where she studied with Karen Dreyfus as a recipient of a William Randolph Hearst Scholarship. Hatton's solos as principal viola of Experiential Orchestra are on the Grammy-winning album ''The Prison''.

'''Francesca McNeeley''' is a cellist based in Boston, originally from Haiti. She attended Princeton University with a primary focus in politics, and received scholarships to attend Rice University and the New England Conservatory for her graduate degrees in cello performance. She performs regularly with Castle of Our Skins, the Celebrity Series of Boston, and as a substitute with the Boston Symphony & Boston Pops Orchestras.

'''Garbriela Díaz''' is a violinist originally from Georgia. She is on the faculty of Wellesley College and the Longy School of Music at Bard College.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2015-02-16 |title=Gabriela Díaz |url=https://www.afarcry.org/bios/gabby |access-date=2024-08-21 |website=A Far Cry |language=en-US}}</ref> In 2024 she became the newest member of the Kronos Quartet.

'''Hannah Collins''' is a cellist and teaching artist. She earned a B.S. in biomedical engineering ''summa cum laude'' from Yale College and has graduate degrees in cello performance from the Yale School of Music, the Royal Conservatory of The Hague, and the City University of New York's Graduate Center. Her principal mentors include Stefan Reuss, Ole Akahoshi, Aldo Parisot, Michel Strauss, Robert Mealy, and Marcy Rosen. Collins is associate professor of cello at the University of Kansas School of Music.<ref>{{Cite web |title=About |url=https://www.hannahcollinscello.com/about |access-date=2024-08-21 |website=hannahcollinscello |language=en}}</ref>

'''Jae Young Cosmos Lee''' is a violinist from Korea. Lee holds degrees from the University of Michigan, the Cleveland Institute of Music, and the New England Conservatory.<ref>Camerata New England, "Meet Camerata New England's Performers." Accessed November 25, 2013. http://www.cameratanewengland.org/jaeyounglee.html {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131204183754/http://www.cameratanewengland.org/jaeyounglee.html |date=2013-12-04 }}.</ref>

'''Jason Fisher''' is a violist who grew up in Seattle. He received his bachelor's degree from the Peabody Institute, studying with Victoria Chiang, and his master's degree from Longy School of Music, studying with Roger Tapping.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Jason Fisher |url=https://www.afarcry.org/bios/jason |access-date=2022-07-22 |website=A Far Cry |date=February 13, 2015 |language=en-US}}</ref>

'''Jesse Irons''' is a violinist from Berlin, Vermont. He received his undergraduate and graduate degrees from the Peabody Institute.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Jesse Irons |url=https://www.afarcry.org/bios/jesse |access-date=2022-07-22 |website=A Far Cry |date=February 12, 2015 |language=en-US}}</ref>

'''Lizzie Burns''' is a bassist and faculty member at the Hartt School of Music and the Mannes Conservatory at The New School. She has recorded for the Sony Masterworks, Deutsche Grammophon, Naxos, New Amsterdam, and Nonesuch, and can be heard on film and television soundtracks, including "Succession".<ref>{{Cite web |date=2015-02-11 |title=Lizzie Burns |url=https://www.afarcry.org/bios/2015/2/lizzie |access-date=2024-08-21 |website=A Far Cry |language=en-US}}</ref>

'''Megumi Stohs Lewis''' is a violinist from Portland, Oregon. She has appeared as a guest artist with the Landmarks Orchestra in Boston, the Sapporo Philharmonic in Japan, and on tour with Britain’s Jethro Tull. Her teachers include Camilla Wicks, Ian Swensen, Lucy Chapman, Roger Tapping, and Phoebe Carrai.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Megumi Stohs Lewis |url=https://www.afarcry.org/bios/megumi |access-date=2022-07-22 |website=A Far Cry |date=February 10, 2015 |language=en-US}}</ref>

'''Michael Unterman''' is a cellist in the master's degree program at the New England Conservatory. He studied at the New England Conservatory for four years, and in Barcelona, Spain, for one year.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Michael Unterman |url=https://www.afarcry.org/bios/michael |access-date=2022-07-22 |website=A Far Cry |date=February 9, 2015 |language=en-US}}</ref>

'''Miki-Sophia Cloud''' is a violinist who studied at Harvard College, Vienna Music University, Yale School of Music, and the Perlman Music Program. As of 2013, she is a doctoral student at the New England Conservatory.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Miki Cloud |url=https://www.afarcry.org/bios/miki |access-date=2022-07-22 |website=A Far Cry |date=February 4, 2015 |language=en-US}}</ref>

'''Rafi Popper-Keizer''' is a cellist residing in Cambridge, who received his master's of music and artist diploma from the New England Conservatory. He is the principal cellist of the Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Emmanuel Music, Chameleon Arts Ensemble, Monadnock Music, Cantata Singers, and the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2015-02-03 |title=Rafi Popper-Keizer |url=https://www.afarcry.org/bios/rafi |access-date=2024-08-21 |website=A Far Cry |language=en-US}}</ref>

'''Sarah Darling''' is a violist and baroque violinist from Boston. She received her B.A. from Harvard College, spent a year at the Juilliard School and the Conservatorium van Amsterdam, and completed an Artist Diploma at the Hochschule fur Musik Freiburg as a recipient of the Beebe, Paine, and DAAD grants for study abroad. As of 2013, she is a doctoral student at the New England Conservatory with Kim Kashkashian.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Sarah Darling {{!}} viola and violin, old and new... |url=http://www.sarahdarling.net/ |access-date=2022-07-22 |language=en-US}}</ref>

'''Zenas Hsu''' is a violinist originally from San Jose, California with degrees from Curtis Institute of Music and the New England Conservatory. He is a founding member of California's Chamber Music by the Bay, and concertmaster of the Boston-based Phoenix.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2015-01-31 |title=Zenas Hsu |url=https://www.afarcry.org/bios/zenas-hsu |access-date=2024-08-21 |website=A Far Cry |language=en-US}}</ref>

== Organization == The Criers take turns leading the ensemble, and are in no particular hierarchy. All members are simultaneously leaders and followers.<ref>Weininger, David. "Modern music, Bach find common ground in A Far Cry." The Boston Globe, sec. Classical Notes, November 28, 2013. https://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/music/2013/11/28/classical-notes-far-cry-gardner-museum/1S1ac6mPuOuu8AfZFO9zwI/story.html (accessed November 30, 2013).</ref> All members take turns as section leader during rehearsal. With the exception of the cellists, players stand while performing. The group's goal is "to wrestle the music they love back from the cultural baggage it's accumulated." It has been labeled a "post-classical" ensemble and participated in Judd Greenstein's Ecstatic Music Festival.<ref>{{Cite web |title=A Far Cry rocks harder than your favorite band. But can they save classical music from itself? - Music Features |url=https://thephoenix.com/boston/music/134396-far-cry-rocks-harder-than-your-favorite-band-bu/ |access-date=2022-07-22 |website=thephoenix.com}}</ref>

== Programs == A Far Cry's programs include music from various periods, such as J.S. Bach, Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber, Mozart, Elgar, Tchaikovsky, Bartók, Astor Piazzolla, Arvo Pärt, Steve Reich, and Osvaldo Golijov.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Smith |first1=Steve |last2=Oestreich |first2=James R. |last3=Kozinn |first3=Allan |date=2011-01-14 |title=Music in Review |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/14/arts/music/14round.html |access-date=2022-07-22 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> In 2013, ''The New York Times'' described its playing as "mixing solemn with snappy".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Woolfe |first=Zachary |date=2013-01-17 |title=Mixing Solemn With Snappy |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/18/arts/music/a-far-cry-in-the-schneider-concerts-at-tishman-auditorium.html |access-date=2022-07-22 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

Its programs usually combine older works with new works. As part of their ensemble residency at the Isabella Gardner Museum, the group presented a seven-concert series called the Avant Gardner series, which focused on forward momentum and repeating patterns in music, with modern composers Andrew Norman, Christopher Theofanidis, Louis Andriessen, and the Baroque composer Bach.

== Performances and tours == A Far Cry has played with cellist Yo-Yo Ma, toured across America, and had its debut tour in 2012 in Europe. It has also played at venues such as Calderwood Hall at the Gardner Museum, New England Conservatory's Jordan Hall and [https://royaleboston.com/ Royale], a Boston nightclub.

== Discography == * ''A Far Cry: Debut'' (2009) * ''Copland; Aldridge: Clarinet Concertos'' (2010) * ''Piazzolla'' (2011) * ''TRACER'' (2013) * ''The Mozart Sessions'' (2012) * ''The Law of Mosaics'' (2014) * ''Dreams & Prayers'' (2014) * ''Circles: Piano Concertos by Bach & Glass'' * ''Visions and Variations'' (2018) * ''The Blue Hour'' (2022)<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.nonesuch.com/albums/the-blue-hour | title = The Blue Hour | last = | first = | date = 2022-10-14 | website = | publisher = Nonesuch Records | access-date = 2023-07-26 | quote = }}</ref> * ''[https://www.afarcry.org/crier-records A Gentleman of Istanbul]'' (2023) * ''[https://awadaginpratt.bandcamp.com/album/stillpoint STILLPOINT]'' (2023)

== References == {{Reflist}}

== External links == * {{Official website|http://www.afarcry.org}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Far Cry, A}} Category:Musical groups from Boston Category:Musical groups established in 2007 Category:American chamber orchestras Category:2007 establishments in Massachusetts Category:Performing arts in Massachusetts