Comprised of violinists Sommer Altier and Judith Kim, violist Sydney Link and cellist Amelia Smerz, the Trillium String Quartet formed in 2024 out of a love for chamber music, collaboration and connection.
Trillium is passionate about performing music in their communities, valuing education and outreach as a foundation for increasing access to the arts. Throughout the east coast, the quartet organizes masterclasses, free concerts and presentations through its connection with local high schools, private studios and outreach organizations. Trillium has appeared in concert alongside Grammy winning Attacca Quartet and Béla Fleck and worked closely with composers Daniel Bernard Roumain (DBR) and Jake Runestead. The quartet was named as a semi-finalist of The Plowman Chamber Music Competition in the spring of 2025 and has attended and performed at festivals including the Calidore String Quartet Seminar, Texas Chamber Music Institute, Daponte String Quartet Institute, and Stretto Festival. The quartet has played in masterclasses and coachings for renowned musicians such as the Calidore String Quartet, Paul Watkins, Philip Setzer, Nina Lee and Ron Copes.
Cumulatively, the group holds degrees from Cleveland Institute of Music, Mannes School of Music, Bard College, DePauw University, McGill University, and Montclair State University. roclaimed one of 2023’s best records by DownBeat,Blues Music magazine, and others. The son of banjo/fiddle composer Tony Ellis, William holds a PhD in ethnomusicology, has played Mountain Stage, MerleFest, and the Kennedy Center among many venues, and is a guitar-instructing alum of Jorma Kaukonen’s Fur Peace Ranch and Augusta Blues Week.