In 1992, Marian Anderson gave the quartet permission to use her name as their own after they won the prestigious International Cleveland Quartet Competition becoming the first African-American ensemble in history to win a classical competition. In a memorable show of gratitude, the Marian Anderson String Quartet performed a private recital for their namesake in her home in Portland, Oregon.
The winners of the 2008 Chamber Music America Guarneri String Quartet Award and the 2006 Congress of Racial Equality Martin Luther King Award for Excellence in Arts and Culture, the Marian Anderson String Quartet is equally at home in the concert hall and the classroom. With performance venues that range from the 1993 Presidential Inaugural, Alice Tully Hall and the Library of Congress to soup kitchens and juvenile correctional facilities, the Marian Anderson String Quartet continues to uphold its mission to create new and diverse audiences for American Chamber music.
The Quartet is currently Quartet in Residence at Blinn College and recently founded the Marian Anderson String Quartet Community Music School, a non-profit organization in Bryan, Texas.