Kurt is Professor of Music at the University of Missouri, St. Louis, where the Arianna String Quartet has been in residence since 2000. As a founding member of the Arianna String Quartet in 1992, Mr. Baldwin has been awarded the Grand Prizes at the Fischoff Competition, Coleman Competition, and Carmel Competition, and was a Laureate at the 1999 Bordeaux International String Quartet Competition. With the ASQ, Mr. Baldwin has concertized throughout five continents, been heard in live radio broadcasts in thirty five countries and on NPR’s “Performance Today”, and has recorded for the Albany and Urtext classical label. As part of a long-term agreement with Centaur Records, the Arianna Quartet has made critically acclaimed recordings of the String Quartets of Janacek and the Complete String Quartets of Beethoven. He is a faculty member of the Arianna Chamber Music Festival, the FEMUSC Festival in Brazil, the Madeline Island Chamber Music Festival, and the Credo Festival. Kurt studied with Janina Ehrlich at Augustana College, received his bachelor of music degree from the San Francisco Conservatory with Irene Sharp, and earned a master of music degree from the NEC, where he was a student of Bernard Greenhouse. He also holds a Performer’s Certificate from Northern Illinois University, where he studied with Marc Johnson and the Vermeer Quartet.