The Garrison String Quartet
About the Garrison String Quartet
The Garrison Quartet is committed to presenting dynamic programming that highlights essential but underperformed voices, while contextualizing repertoire in ways that engage both new and seasoned audiences.
Members
Carson Howell, violin
Carson Howell is an avid performer on both violin and viola. Originally from Houston, Texas, he has studied under renowned musicians Ara Gregorian and Hye-Jin Kim at East Carolina University and Nicholas Kitchen at the New England Conservatory, where he is currently working towards his Masters Degree.
Carson is actively involved in historical performance, studying baroque violin with members of the Handel and Haydn Society. In 2025, he also helped found the only NEC ensemble to exclusively perform on period instruments.
An accomplished chamber musician, Carson is a founding member of the Garrison Quartet, and has studied and worked with renowned ensembles such as the Borromeo, Jupiter, and Cooperstown Quartets, among others.
Tyler Michael James, cello
A passionate cellist with a “soulful, lyrical tone“ (Boston Music Intelligencer) and a “phenomenal color palette” (Radda Rise), Tyler Michael James has performed with such renowned orchestras and groups as A Far Cry, Castle Of Our Skins, and Fermata Chamber Soloists. He is a member of the Tristan Trio, the Lobster Cove String Quartet, and the Garrison Quartet. As a soloist, chamber musician, and collaborator, James has performed on Rockport Music, Naumberg Orchestral Concert, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 92nd Street Y, the Peabody Institute, New York University, Lyrica Boston, Cherry Street Music, the Bar Harbor Music Festival, and has had the honor of recording at WGBH Studios. He is currently Executive Director of the Cambridge Music Society and Associate Artistic Director of Cape Cod’s Red Door Chamber Music.
James is currently on faculty at the Boston String Academy, Project STEP, and the Attacca School of Music. He has had the pleasure of teaching at festivals including the Boston University Tanglewood Institute, Montecito International Music Festival, Point Counterpoint, and Four Strings Academy.
Born in Virginia, James received his Bachelor’s degree from New York University’s Steinhardt School on full scholarship under esteemed pedagogue Marion Feldman. There, he won the concerto competition, performing the Elgar Cello Concerto with the NYU Symphony Orchestra. He was awarded a joint Master’s Degree and Artist Diploma with Terry King and Phoebe Carrai on full scholarship from the Longy School of Music of Bard College. He earned his MBA at the College of William & Mary with a focus on non-profit structure.
Christopher Nelson, violin
Christopher Nelson is a violinist that has interpreted the masters from Monteverdi to Kurtág. Based in Boston, Christopher has played alongside local orchestras including the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, Boston Festival Orchestra, Du Bois Orchestra, and Cape Ann Symphony. He has performed at several prominent music festivals including the Aspen Music Festival, National Repertory Orchestra, Round Top Festival Institute, Taconic Chamber Intensive, and the Fellowship String Quartet Program at Madeline Island Chamber Music. Christopher has had the privilege to study with acclaimed violin pedagogues such as William Fitzpatrick, Dr. Moni Simeonov, Daniel Phillips, Carmit Zori, Paul Kantor, and Gail Mellert. He holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Violin Performance from Chapman University’s Hall-Musco Conservatory and a Master’s from Bard College’s Bitó Conservatory of Music.
Sachin Shukla, viola
Sachin Shukla is a violist and teacher based in Boston. Performances have brought him across the US and Italy, and to the stages of Carnegie Hall, Boston Symphony Hall, and NEC’s Jordan Hall. He is a member of the New Bedford Symphony Orchestra and has performed with A Far Cry, the Albany Symphony, Cape Symphony, Portland Symphony, and as guest principal with the Plymouth Philharmonic, among others.
Sachin is on the violin and viola faculty of the Powers Music School in Belmont, MA, where he is also Director of Chamber Music. He has also taught with the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestras, the Boston Music Project, and the Community Music Center of Boston. Sachin is proud to have sent his students to success in auditions for BYSO, NEC Prep’s orchestras, and MMEA District and All State festivals.
This season, Sachin’s chamber music engagements include Powers Music School’s “A New Lens” series, Red Door Chamber Music in Provincetown, MA and St. John’s Episcopal Church in Westwood. As a member of the Garrison Quartet, he will also perform in Jordan Hall and the Arlington Arts Center. Sachin is also active in the early music world, having worked with Ingrid Matthews, Aislinn Nosky, and Phoebe Carrai. He performs with the Arpeggione Ensemble and recorded on its debut studio album, Songs of a Seafarer.
Sachin is a graduate of Northwestern University and the New England Conservatory, where his principal teachers were Helen Callus and Mai Motobuchi. If not playing a concert, driving to a concert, or teaching, Sachin is probably enjoying a Taiwanese oolong and listening to music with his cats, Onyx and Obsidian.
Media
Mozart: String Quartet No. 16 in E-Flat Major, K. 396
Upcoming Events
Tuesday, April 14, 2026
NEC Composer’s Series: DMA Showcase
NEC’s Williams Hall
Boston, MA
Cholodenko: Cracks in the Sky (2025)
April 30, 2026
Arlington Arts Center
Arlington, MA
Mendelssohn, Fanny: String Quartet in E-Flat Major
Cholodenko: Cracks in the Sky (2025)
Mendelssohn, Felix: String Quartet in f minor, Op. 80