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UNO Maverick Quartet

The UNO Maverick Quartet was founded in 2016 by UNO string faculty Drs. Mary Perkinson and Olga Smola, violins; Brian Sherwood, viola; and Gregory Clinton, cello. The members have established careers as orchestral musicians, chamber musicians, and soloists, and have performed throughout North and South America, Europe, Russia, and Asia. The quartet performs annual chamber music concerts and frequently performs with invited guest artists from Omaha and beyond.  The UNO Maverick Quartet is dedicated to enriching the lives of young string players through pedagogy and artistry. They conduct frequent clinics throughout the state and host annual events to benefit K12 string players and teachers such as, String Olympics, All-State Help Sessions, All-State YouTube tutorials, Teaching Strings for the Non-String Player Workshop, and the UNO BOCH festival. 

The UNO Maverick String Quartet is dedicated to artist citizenship and aims to contribute to the community in creative ways beyond the concert stage. In 2018, the quartet became String-Quartet-in-Residence at Nebraska Medicine’s Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center and enjoyed bi-weekly engagements in the Cancer Center lobby pre-COVID. During the pandemic the quartet has found creative ways to contribute to the environment of care through recorded videos shared on the Healing Arts channel available on almost1000 T.V.’s throughout UNMC’s campus.

Their interest in contributing to the environment of care through music has led to the founding of Nebraska HeartBeats in 2019, a partnership with the UNMC Neurological Sciences department, that aims to improve the quality of life of older adults with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias through participatory, creative musical experiences. Most recently, the quartet completed a Zoom pilot program with residents of Hillcrest Silver Ridge Assisted Living Community in Gretna, NE.

 The quartet looks forward to an exciting year of engaging with schools, the community, and educating the next generation of performers, educators, and artist citizens.