Faculty String Quartet-in-Residence

Enjoy this performance from almost anywhere in the world via LIVE@jacobs!

Repertoire to be announced

About the Artists

Recognized for its virtuosity, exuberant performance style, and daring repertory choices, the Pacifica Quartet has achieved international recognition over the past 30 years as one of the finest chamber ensembles performing today, establishing itself as the embodiment of the ideal American quartet sound. Named faculty string quartet-in-residence at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music in 2012, Pacifica was previously quartet-in-residence at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and most recently received its second Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music Performance for Contemporary Voices (2020), featuring the works of three Pulitzer Prize–winning women. In 2017, the Quartet was appointed to lead the Center for Advanced Quartet Studies at the Aspen Music Festival and School. Formed in 1994, the Pacifica Quartet quickly won chamber music’s top competitions, including the 1998 Naumburg Chamber Music Award. In 2002, the ensemble was honored with Chamber Music America’s Cleveland Quartet Award and the appointment to Lincoln Center’s The Bowers Program, and in 2006 was awarded a prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant. The Pacifica Quartet has proven itself the preeminent interpreter of string quartet cycles, having given highly acclaimed performances of the complete Carter, Mendelssohn, Beethoven and Shostakovich cycles in numerous cities across the United States, in Australia, and in Tokyo and London. An ardent advocate of contemporary music, Pacifica commissions and performs many new works, including compositions by Keeril Makan, Julia Wolfe, and Shulamit Ran. The Quartet has recorded the Carter cycle (Naxos) and the Shostakovich cycle (Cedille Records) to rave reviews. Other recording projects include Leo Ornstein’s piano quintet with Marc-André Hamelin, the Brahms piano quintet with Jacobs Distinguished Professor Menahem Pressler, and the Brahms and Mozart clarinet quintets with Anthony McGill. Prior to its appointment to the Jacobs School, Pacifica was on the faculty of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign for 9 years and served as resident performing artists at the University of Chicago for 17 years. Visit pacificaquartet.com for more information.