About Owls

Drawing from a deep well of musical passions and backgrounds, Owls is a quartet collective that defies expectations and labels with original, visceral, and personal performances. Each an artistic force in their own right, violinist Alexi Kenney, violist Ayane Kozasa, cellist Gabriel Cabezas and cellist-composer Paul Wiancko share an uncommonly fierce creative spirit which drives the quartet to challenge the way meaningful concert experiences are conceived. While weaving together new compositions with original arrangements of music ranging from the 1600s to the present, Owls' distinctive instrumentation allows them access to beautiful and exhilarating new sound worlds—effectively guaranteeing that each performance is uniquely them and without limits.

Artist Bios

Alexi Kenney, violin

Violinist Alexi Kenney is forging a career that defies categorization, following his interests, intuition, and heart. He is equally at home creating experimental programs and commissioning new works, soloing with major orchestras around the world, and collaborating with some of the most celebrated musicians of our time. Alexi is the recipient of an Avery Fisher Career Grant and a Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award.

Kenney has soloed with The Cleveland Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, l’Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Detroit Symphony, Rochester Philharmonic, Indianapolis Symphony, Gulbenkian Orchestra, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Oregon Symphony, Louisville Orchestra, and l’Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne, as well as in a play-conduct role as guest leader of the Mahler Chamber Orchestra. www.alexikenney.com

Ayane Kozasa, viola

Hailed for her “magnetic, wide-ranging tone” and “rock solid technique” (Philadelphia Inquirer), violist Ayane Kozasa is a chamber musician, collaborator, educator. Winner of the 2011 Primrose International Viola Competition, Kozasa is the violist of Kronos Quartet as of 2024. She succeeds Hank Dutt, the ensemble’s violist of 45 years.

Kozasa is a founding member of the Aizuri Quartet, who was the 2018 quartet-in-residence at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the grand prize winner of both the Osaka International String Quartet Competition and MPrize Chamber Arts Competition. The Aizuri Quartet’s debut album Blueprinting (New Amsterdam Records) was nominated for a GRAMMY Award and named one of NPR’s top 10 classical albums of 2018. www.ayanekozasa.com

Gabriel Cabezas, cello

Cellist Gabriel Cabezas is a true 21st-century musician. A prolific and sought-after soloist and collaborator, he is as comfortable interpreting new works as he is with the pillar scores of the cello repertoire. Cabezas has appeared with America’s finest symphony orchestras and has premiered dozens of new works by some of the most brilliant composers of his time.

Cabezas is a member of the acclaimed chamber sextet yMusic, quartet collective Owls, and is a co-founder of Duende, a new music and contemporary dance collective. In 2016, Cabezas received the Sphinx Medal of Excellence, a career grant awarded to extraordinary classical Black and Latinx musicians. Cabezas studied at the Curtis Institute of Music under Carter Brey. www.gabrielcabezas.com

Paul Wiancko, cello

Paul Wiancko is a composer, cellist, and serial collaborator. A member of Kronos Quartet since 2023, Wiancko succeeded the late Geoff Nutall as Artistic Director for Chamber Music at Spoleto USA. He is the first composer to hold either position. Called a "multifaceted talent" with a "singular voice" by The Washington Post, Wiancko has composed, arranged, and performed in a dramatically large range of genres, collaborating with artists like Max Richter, Chick Corea, Norah Jones, Dirty Projectors, The National, Wye Oak, and the Aizuri Quartet, Guarneri, JACK, St. Lawrence, and Kronos Quartet. www.paulwiancko.com