Meet the Lake Shore String Quartet
Tara, Trina, Gabrielle, and Rhea share a deep love and long association with chamber music. While each of us performs in a variety of venues and settings, we find our passion for string quartet music an ongoing venture, and we love sharing our enthusiasm and technical expertise with our audiences and clients!
Click on the YouTube link below to hear a clip of our quartet in concert!
Tara Banick, violin
Tara began playing violin at age six. She has played with the Waukegan Symphony Orchestra, the Zion Chamber Orchestra, the Bradley University Chamber Orchestra, and the Lake Forest College Chamber Orchestra. Tara and her sister Trina performed the Bach Concerto for Two Violins with the Lake Forest College Chamber Orchestra in 2003. She studied violin with Marilyn Shonfeld and Pasquale Laurino, and she studied piano with Richard Schwinn. Her musical inspiration is Gil Shaham, and her favorite composer is Tchaikovsky.
Trina Banick, violin
Trina began playing violin at age three. She has played with the Waukegan Symphony Orchestra, the Zion Chamber Orchestra, and the Lake Forest College Chamber Orchestra, where she served as concertmaster for three years. With her sister, Trina performed Bach's Concerto for Two Violins with the Lake Forest College Chamber Orchestra in 2003. She also plays piano and frequently accompanies her sister in violin and piano duets. She has a special interest in Celtic music and classic tunes of the 30's and 40's arranged for piano.
Gabrielle Koumos, viola
Gabrielle began playing violin in fourth grade. During high school, she switched to the viola, where she performed with the Lake Forest High School Orchestra and Midwest Young Artists’ Senior Orchestra. She has continued performing throughout college and beyond. She has taken private lessons from Mark Butin, Susan Janda, and Daniel Golden. With the Lake Shore String Quartet, she keeps her love of performing chamber music alive.
Rhea Davis, cello
Rhea studied cello at VanderCook College of Music and the University of illinois. She performed orchestral studies at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria. She was trained as a Suzuki instructor at the American Suzuki Institute. She now teaches cello at the Music Institute of Chicago and is the director of orchestras and string instructor in the Kildeer-Countryside School District. She also serves as the principal cellist of the Evanston Symphony Orchestra.
