Pacifica Quartet, Quartet

Biography

In May 2006, the Pacifica Quartet became only the second chamber music
ensemble to be awarded a prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant. In
2005&2006, the Pacifica made a European tour that included a
re-engagement at Wigmore Hall in London, and debuts in Brussels and
Stuttgart, played a three-concert series in Chicago, performed two
concerts at Lincoln Center in New York, two in Washington DC, and
concerts across the country from Boston to New Orleans to Tucson.
Collaborations included the Emerson String Quartet, the Miro Quartet,
the Avalon Quartet, and pianists Wu Han and Ursula Oppens. The Pacifica
Quartet celebrated its 10th anniversary in the 2004-2005 season with
its first tour of Japan, its first appearance at Wigmore Hall in
London, a performance of all five Elliott Carter quartets for San
Francisco Performances, a concert at Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall,
the release of the complete Mendelssohn string quartets on the Cedille
label, and more than 60 concerts across the country.

Rising to prominence soon after its creation in 1994, the Pacifica
swept top prizes in three of chamber music's most important
international competitions for young ensembles, the 1996 Coleman
Chamber Music Competition, the 1997 Concert Artists Guild Competition,
and the 1998 Naumburg Chamber Music Competition. In 2002, the Quartet
was further honored with Chamber Music America's prestigious Cleveland
Quartet Award, giving them concerts in eight of America's most
important venues, and was appointed a member of The Chamber Music
Society of Lincoln Center's CMS Two program for gifted young musicians.
For two years beginning in the fall of 2003, this position involved the
Quartet in the full range of activities of the Chamber Music Society of
Lincoln Center, from performances in Alice Tully Hall to community
partnerships and leading roles in the Chamber Music Society's
educational activities. The Quartet has been featured on many of the
nation's most prominent radio broadcasts, including Chicago's WFMT,
National Public Radio's Performance Today, and Minnesota Public Radio's
St. Paul Sunday.

The Pacifica is an ardent advocate of contemporary music, commissioning
and performing as many as eight new works a year. A champion of the
string quartets of Elliott Carter, the ensemble has distinguished
itself with performanaces of the complete five-quartet cycle in New
York, San Francisco, Chicago, and Cleveland, and abroad in Tokyo and
the Edinburgh International Festival. The New York Times wrote
glowingly of the "astounding performances" by the "brilliant Pacifica
Quartet," and the Chicago Tribune praised the Quartet's "astonishing
talent, energy and dedication." As resident string quartet for
Contempo, one of the country's leading contemporary music
organizations, the Quartet presents a series of concerts each year
devoted exclusively to new music.

The Pacifica Quartet serves as Faculty Quartet in Residence at the
University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana, and is Quartet in Residence
at the University of Chicago, where it is the first resident ensemble
in the history of the institution. Reflecting its dedication to
musicians and music lovers of the next generation, the Pacifica Quartet
was instrumental in creating the Music Integration Project, an
innovative program that provides musical performances and teacher
training to inner-city elementary schools. In addition, the Quartet
regularly teaches and performs at summer festivals, including
Musicorda, Fontana Chamber Arts, Music in the Vineyards, Interlochen
Arts Camp, and the Madeline Island Music Festival, and is also
frequently invited for visiting residencies at universities and schools
nationwide.

The members of the Pacifica Quartet share a unique history of personal
and musical friendship. First violinist Simin Ganatra, born and raised
in southern California, initially played with cellist Brandon Vamos and
violinist Sibbi Bernhardsson when they were teenagers. Sibbi later
brought his good friend Masumi Rostad to the group. Originating on the
West Coast, where it played many of its earliest concerts together, the
Quartet takes its name from the awe-inspiring Pacific Ocean. Throughout
their journey as a string quartet, its members continually strive to be
Distinct as the billows/yet one as the sea. (James Montgomery)

Additional information about the Pacifica Quartet can be found on the web at pacificaquartet.com.