With soul and grace, the Dali Quartet brings life to the world of classical music.

The classical and Latin-American quartet arrived Tuesday at UW-Eau Claire as part of the Artists Series to share their skills through their teachings and performance.

The Dali Quartet originates from Venezuela and is the result of the country’s music program El Sistema, a program designed to change the life of at-risk Venezuelan children through music. The quartet combines classical and Latin American music for a diverse range of rhythm and sound.

The members of the quartet held a master class on Tuesday in Phillips Recital Hall and worked with the students a part of the Cohen quartet, one of the premier ensembles in the Department of Music at Eau Claire, assistant professor Tulio Rondon said.

“(The Dali Quartet) are very fantastic musicians but also the way they communicate to the students is very good,” Rondon said. “And of course their musicality”.

Rondon said the students working with the Dali Quartet are recipients of the Eileen Phillips Cohen String Quartet scholarship, a scholarship given to students who wish to achieve more in their musical field and desire to become a leader in the Eau Claire string division. The Dali Quartet critiqued the recipients on music they are performing for their recital on March 16.

The master class was open to the public and brought in good attendance, Rondon said. Music liberal arts major and cello player Katie Fischer sat in on the class to listen to the Dali Quartet give feedback and believes they gave a lot of “valuable resources” regarding character in music.

“One of the valuable things I thought (Adriana Linares) said was, ‘Music is learning the rules so you know when to break them,’” Fischer said.

Music education major and violin player, Bryce Sanville, said he is using the feedback to the Cohen quartet to find ways to shape his own playing.

“I’m looking to see how they’re getting their words across and what kind of sounds they want the quartet to make,” Sanville said. “I’m making mental notes of ways I can interpret different sounds on my own instrument.”

Kristin Schumacher, assistant director for Activities, Involvement and Leadership said the artists series always tries to find a “real diverse array of fine artists”. Rondon has known the Dali Quartet’s second violinist, Carlos Rubio, from graduate school and played with him in another quartet, so he suggested the group to the artists series.

“They’re very open-minded and also very engaging with the students,” Rondon said. “I think it’s a reflection of their individual personalities.”

Carlos Rubio and violist Adriana Linares, founded the Dali Quartet Camp & Festival (DQCF), an internationally recognized Chamber Music and Orchestra Program. At the camp, people of all ages and skill levels can attend to receive daily coaching, rehearsals and master classes as well as workshops such as instrument making, college music preparation, Brazilian Percussion and others, according to daliquartet.com.

Through means such as DQCF as well as the experience they shared here in Eau Claire, the Dali Quartet continuously looks to share the love of music through education, culture and social diversity.