JACK Quartet © Beowulf Sheehan
JACK Quartet
As one of today's most sought-after ensembles, the JACK Quartet remains dedicated to its mission of performing and commissioning new works, giving voice to under-performed composers, and promoting openness to contemporary music. The four musicians have been named Ensemble of the Year by Musical America magazine, "19 for 19 Artists to Watch" by the venerable New York classical music station WQXR, and an Avery Fisher Career Grant by Lincoln Center. Highlights of the 2022/23 season include the world premiere of Liza Lim's new work String Creatures at the Lucerne Festival and Musikfest Berlin, as well as concerts at Klangspuren Schwaz, the Barcelona Quartet Biennale, the Southbank Center London, Berlin's Pierre Boulez Hall, the Danish Library Copenhagen, and London's Wigmore Hall.
The Quartet maintains close relationships with the creators of the music it performs in order to fully immerse itself in all technical, musical and emotional aspects of their respective tonal languages. Previous collaborations include Julia Wolfe, George Lewis, Chaya Czernowin, Helmut Lachenmann, Caroline Shaw, and Simon Steen-Andersen. Among their recent premieres are works by Tyshawn Sorey, Sabrina Schroeder, John Luther Adams, Clara Iannotta, Philip Glass, Catherine Lamb, Lester St. Louis, and John Zorn. The JACK Studio project, initiated by the Quartet, provides funding, workshops, and consultative guidance to enable several composers each year to develop new works to be interpreted and recorded by the Quartet.
The JACK Quartet has performed at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Berlin Philharmonie, Wigmore Hall, Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ, Louvre, IRCAM, Cologne Philharmonie, Suntory Hall, Lucerne Festival, Biennale di Venezia, Suntory Hall, Bali Arts Festival, Festival Internacional Cervatino and Teatro Colón.
The JACK Quartet's extensive discography includes works by Amy Williams, Elliott Sharp, Han Lash, John Zorn, and Horațiu Rădulescu, among others. This year, their recording of John Luther Adams' string quartet Lines Made by Walking was nominated for a Grammy.
A special concern of the quartet is the promotion of young musicians. As Quartet in Residence at the renowned Mannes School of Music, the musicians present a diverse program of contemporary music for string quartet as part of their Frontiers Festival. Year after year, the ensemble also teaches courses for young performers and composers at the Point Chamber Music Festival of Contemporary Music in Vermont and at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity. The quartet has long been closely associated with the University of Iowa's string quartet residency program and with the Lucerne Festival Academy, of which the musicians are alumni. The ensemble also works regularly with young composers at universities such as Columbia University, Harvard University, New York University, Princeton University, and Stanford University.
As of August 2022