June 25, 2026, Newark, OH – The Licking County Foundation (LCF) is proud to announce the “vital and brilliant” (The New Yorker) string quartet ETHEL has been awarded its inaugural Constance J. Hawk Prize for the Arts. Hawk was a stalwart advocate of the arts whose tenure at the Foundation led to increased collaboration among local arts and cultural organizations. The award brings the Grammy-winning string quartet and its signature joy, verve, artistry, and rockstar energy into the community to continue to build on its twelve plus year residency at Denison University. The award comes with a $30,000 grant to support an innovative collaboration between an artist and a nonprofit organization.
“By bringing world-class artistry directly to the people of Licking County, this program aims to strengthen civic life through music,” commented Bobby Persinger, LCF Program Officer for Grants and Capacity Building. “The ETHEL residency is designed to engage diverse segments of our community through performances, interactive workshops, collaborative events and creative dialogue.” Director of Programs for Explore Licking County, the region’s travel and tourism bureau, Janice LoRaso commented “ETHEL’s long and fruitful history with Denison University and its ability to relate music and the arts to a variety of subjects and experiences make it the perfect match for this community-based residency.” LoRaso will also lead a steering group of community arts and culture leaders who will help support the initiative’s goals.
The ensemble will be in residence in November 2026 and will work with the Boys & Girls Club for an interactive music session; STEAM students through activities exploring music, motion, and sound waves, along with an improvisation workshop; the Licking County Aging Program; the Newark High School Orchestra; the Bhutanese Community Center of Ohio for a collaborative presentation; children and families through a storytelling performance; and the Ohio Center for History, Art & Technology through a site-specific performance in the SciDome Planetarium. Public presentations will include a performance featuring a community musician play-in with the Newark-Granville Youth Symphony and a concert at the Octagon Earthworks—one of the newest UNESCO World Heritage Sites—celebrating its cultural and historical significance through a site-specific performance. The program will incorporate selections from ETHEL’s acclaimed The River, and will include a cultural reflection and inspiration session presented in partnership with Ohio History Connection, honoring Indigenous perspectives.
The string quartet known for its genre-defying music and inclusive ethos has appeared on major stages throughout the globe for almost three decades and brings a unique perspective to the residency. Its storied history as a torchbearer for the arts includes premiering/commissioning over 500 new works and being commissioned by an array of institutions as composer/performers themselves. Along with the relentless quest for building artistic relationships, common creative expression, and developing live performance experiences surpassing what is typical in a concert hall, ETHEL has cemented its legacy as a trailblazing, no-limits ensemble setting the standard for bold, daring musical experiences.
All of the efforts are supported by the Arts Initiative Fund of the Licking County Foundation. The Fund was established to stabilize, grow, and support arts and cultural programming in Licking County.