Comprised of violinists Sommer Altier and Judith Kim, violist Sydney Link, and cellist Amelia Smerz, the Trillium String Quartet formed in 2024 out of a love for chamber music, collaboration and connection. 

Trillium is currently in residence at the Cleveland Institute of Music, where they teach and perform at the conservatory and throughout the community. In 2025, the quartet completed a year-long residency as the Graduate String Quartet at Montclair State University. The quartet also served as faculty for the inaugural Kinhaven Semester School Program, a holistic educational opportunity for young musicians with a special interest in chamber music. Throughout this residency, Trillium provided intensive coachings and lessons, as well as curating and performing weekly concerts throughout southern Vermont.

Trillium has appeared in concert alongside the Grammy-winning Attacca Quartet and Béla Fleck, and performed at New York’s Merkin Hall, National Sawdust, and Symphony Space. The group has worked closely with composers Daniel Bernard Roumain (DBR) and Jake Runestead, and has attended and performed at festivals including the Calidore String Quartet Seminar, Texas Chamber Music Institute, Daponte String Quartet Institute, and the Stretto Festival. A semi-finalist of The Plowman Chamber Music Competition in the Spring of 2025, the quartet has played in masterclasses and coachings for renowned musicians such as Paul Watkins, Philip Setzer, Nina Lee, Ron Copes, and the Calidore String Quartet. 

Spring 2026 marked Trillium’s debut season, including a coast-to-coast tour through concert halls, university stages, libraries, museums, living rooms, and bars. They performed in residence at the University of Georgia ABAC and DePauw University and at stops across Georgia, Florida, Indiana, Ohio, Rhode Island, New York, and Washington. Along the way, they gave masterclasses and partnered with Cleveland-area nonprofits, 

Upcoming, the group will be coaching at the Cleveland Institute of Music’s Chamber Music Intensive in the Summer of 2026 and 2027. For the coming season, they’re planning another tour, as well as another semester as the faculty quartet in residence at Kinhaven Music School. 

Trillium is passionate about performing music in their communities, valuing education and outreach as a foundation for increasing access to the arts. Throughout the east coast, the quartet organizes masterclasses, free concerts and presentations through its connection with local high schools, private studios and outreach organizations.

Cumulatively, the group holds degrees from Cleveland Institute of Music, Mannes School of Music, Bard College, DePauw University, McGill University, and Montclair State University.