Founded in 1982, the Colorado Quartet rose to international attention with back-to-back first prizes in the Naumburg Competition and the First Banff International String Quartet Competition in 1983. For the next thirty years, the quartet would remain prominent artists on the American and international chamber music scene before disbanding in 2013. The ensemble was one of the first all-female quartets to gain significant stature. Founding member Deborah Lydia Redding, who was second violinist with the ensemble from its founding to its last performance, said during an appearance on WNYC's "Around New York" that the quartet's name came from the fact that she grew up in Boulder, Colorado, and was one of a team tasked with putting together a resident quartet at the University of Colorado. That ensemble subsequently went to the Juilliard School, "and the rest is history." The Colorado Quartet was based in the New York City area, became Quartet-in-Residence at Bard College, and appeared as artists at Lincoln Cemter's Mostly Mosart Festival and Great Performances series. Members also taught at Yale University, Oberlin College, and the Banff Centre. The quartet premiered dozens of works, including major quartets by Karel Husa, Richard Wernick, Ezra Laderman, and Tamar Muskal, and many other works, including a substantial number of commissions. The Colorado Quartet recorded frequently, with releases on many labels, including Albany Records, New World, Fidelio, Mode, and Bridge. Their recordings of the complete quartets of Beethoven first appeared on Parnassus records. The players on that cycle were first violinist Julie Rosenfeld, second violinist Deborah Lydia Redding, violist Marka Gustavsson, and cellist Diane Chaplin.