Ancora String Quartet

Arts + Literature Laboratory welcomes Ancora String Quartet on Sunday, November 2, 2025 at 2:00pm. Advance tickets are $20 for general admsision or $15 for ALL members or students with a valid ID. Advance tickets available at Brown Paper Tickets. General admission at the door is $25 for everyone.

The Ancora String Quartet, now in its 27^th season, is delighted to announce Sahada Buckley as its new permanent violist! She will be joining long-time members Wes Luke, Robin Ryan, and Benjamin Whitcomb in a performance of F.J. Haydn’s rousing quartet Op. 74 No. 3 in G minor, nicknamed “The Horsemen,” followed by Jean Sibelius’s ingenious and profound quartet in D minor, nicknamed “Intimate Voices.”

Wes Luke

Wes Luke is a violinist and educator who performs and teaches across the upper Midwest. He currently serves as the Concertmaster of the LaCrosse (WI) Symphony Orchestra, the Principle Second Violinist of the Dubuque (IA) Symphony Orchestra, and a section violinist in the Madison (WI) Symphony Orchestra. He also regularly plays in the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra and the Wisconsin Philharmonic, where he has also served as Concertmaster. A frequent recitalist, he performs with the Mosaic Chamber Players based in Madison, WI and the Concordance Ensemble, which performs new music throughout Illinois, Iowa, and Minnesota. Wes currently serves on the teaching faculties of the University of Dubuque, Divine Word College, and Loras College and has performed at music festivals in the U.S., Canada, Germany, and Japan. Wes holds degrees from the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, MA, where he studied under Boston Symphony Concertmaster Malcolm Lowe, and the University... Read More

Robin Ryan

Robin Ryan is a member of the Madison Symphony Orchestra. Robin, originally from Massachusetts, studied violin at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston with Eric Rosenblith and Marylou Speaker Churchill. She played in the Conservatory’s Youth Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Benjamin Zander. For many summers Robin attended Greenwood music camp in Cummington, Massachusetts and then the Yellow Barn Music Festival in Putney, Vermont. Robin majored in government at Harvard University, has a master’s degree in public affairs from the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin, and received her law degree from the University of Texas School of Law. She served as an attorney for the Wisconsin State Legislature for 10 years and then spent 12 years with the nonprofit ARC Community Services. She is currently Executive Director of Literacy Network.

Sahada Buckley

From Fairhope, Alabama, Sahada Buckley is a graduate of the University of Georgia with degrees in Music Theory and Violin Performance. She is now earning her Masters degree at University of Wisconsin-Madison studying with David Perry. She is a member of the Marvin Rabin String Quartet. She has attended festivals such as Meadowmount School of Music, Tanglewood BUTI, Montecito Music Festival, and Green Mountain Music Festival.

In 2018, she performed as a soloist with the University of Georgia Symphony Orchestra after winning the 2018 UGASO Concerto Competition. In 2019, she through-hiked the Appalachian Trail with a violin on her backpack. Sahada plays with multiple groups exploring the possibilities of experimental improvisation. Two of her albums have been featured on Bandcamp Daily’s ‘Best Experimental Albums’ List. She spends her free time walking her dog, painting and attending concerts.

Benjamin Whitcomb

Benjamin Whitcomb is a Professor of Cello and Music Theory at the University of Wisconsin- Whitewater, where he has received awards for his teaching, research, and service. An active recitalist and chamber musician, he performs more than thirty concerts a year around the country and overseas. He is a member of the Ancora String Quartet and the UW-Whitewater Piano Trio. Dr. Whitcomb is a frequent guest clinician and performer at universities and conferences throughout the country and abroad. His books, The Advancing String Player’s Handbook series, Cello Fingerings, and Bass Fingerings, Compendium of Chords for Strings series, and the Guide to Practicing the Popper Etudes have received rave reviews from numerous string journals. He is a contributing author to Sharpen Your String Technique and Teaching Music through Performance in Orchestra. He has published numerous articles on cello and on music theory, and has presented dozens of papers at national and... Read More

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Arts + Literature Laboratory is located at 111 S. Livingston Street #100, Madison, Wisconsin, 53703.

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