Hampton String Quartet

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The Hampton String Quartet is a string quartet specializing in popular music, playing whimsical chamber music arrangements of Christmas and rock songs in the style of various classical composers, frequently quoting or paraphrasing snippets from their works. (For example, their arrangement of "Earth Angel" is a paraphrase of Johann Pachelbel's Canon in D.)

According to the liner notes of their 1986 debut album, What if Mozart wrote Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, the quartet was formed specifically for that album, in response to producer Warren Schatz's desire to record chamber music arrangements of mostly-secular Christmas music.

The debut album was followed in 1988 by What if Mozart Wrote "Born to Be Wild" and What if Mozart Wrote "Roll Over Beethoven," and in 1989 by What if Mozart Wrote "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus."

Following the "What if Mozart . . ." series, little was heard from the quartet until 1993, when they released an album featuring the Rolling Stones' Sympathy for the Devil as its title track, first on EastWorld/Toshiba-EMI, then re-releasing it on Dolphin/Allegro in 1994, and making it the debut album of their own Mona Lisa Sound label in 2000.

Since then, the quartet has released 3 additional albums, HSQ Rides Again (2004), HSQ Does Christmas (Again) (2004) and Take No Prisoners (2005).

The quartet has also collaborated with a number of more conventional rock bands. Their current roster consists of Regis Iandiorio, first violin, Abe Appleman, second violin, Richard Maximoff, viola, and John Reed, cello.

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