Umoja String Quartet began their association in the fall of 1996 in Washington, D.C. The quartet, a direct outgrowth of the Kinara String Quartet, served as artists-in-residence in a program sponsored by the Washington Performing Arts Society designed to develop a broader base of string students in the District of Columbia Public Schools. in September 1998, Umoja String Quartet was invited by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra to serve as an Arts Excel Visiting Ensemble in a new education initiative creating a replicable model for education reform through the arts. The Choral Arts Society of Washington, partnering with the District of Columbia Public Schools, welcomed Umoja String Quartet to its new arts education program called ArtsACCESS in September 2000.
The quartet, a participant of the Library of Congress Bicentennial Local Legacies Project, has been featured on the Kennedy Center Millennium state Concert Series, Fox Morning News and numerous other venus. Following their debut CD titled "Songs of Our Fathers", Umoja String Quartet is enjoying the release of its second CD called "Things Ain't What They Used to Be." The musicians of Umoja String Quartet are members of the DC Federation of Musicians and American Federation of Musicians.
