Pacifica
String Quartet
Recognized for its
virtuosity, exuberant performance style, and often-daring
repertory choices, the Pacifica Quartet has carved out a
compelling and critically lauded musical path, resulting
in Musical America naming the group its 2009
“Ensemble of the Year.” The Pacifica also received the
music industry’s most coveted recognition with its 2009
“Best Chamber Music Performance” Grammy Award for its
recording of Elliott Carter’s String Quartets Nos. 1 & 5
(Naxos). Since the group first came together in 1994, the
Pacifica Quartet has swept top awards in the U.S. and
abroad, including the prestigious Avery Fisher Career
Grant in 2006, making the Pacifica only the second chamber
music ensemble ever to be selected.
The Pacifica Quartet
tours extensively throughout the United States, Europe,
Asia, and Australia, performing in the world’s major
concert halls in cities such as London, Paris, Berlin,
Amsterdam, Vienna, and Tokyo. Each season, the ensemble
can be heard on many of the nation’s most prominent radio
broadcasts, including Chicago’s WFMT, Boston’s WGBH, and
American Public Media’s Performance Today and
St. Paul Sunday.
Prolific in the recording
studio, the Pacifica Quartet’s CD Declarations: Music
Between the Wars showcased music composed during the
turbulent decades between World Wars I and II. In January
2008, the Quartet released the first in a two-disc set of
the complete string quartets of Elliott Carter, released
on the Naxos label in celebration of the composer’s 100th
birthday. The second disc, presenting the three remaining
string quartets, was released in February 2009. The
Pacifica’s recent recordings of the complete string
quartets of Felix Mendelssohn have also attracted effusive
praise from critics in the U.S. and abroad. On the heels
of the release, the ensemble was featured on the cover of
Gramophone magazine.
In the 2009-2010 season,
the Pacifica Quartet will assume the quartet-in-residence
position at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, having taken
over that role from the Guarneri Quartet, which is
stepping down after 43 years. Additionally, the Quartet
will return to Europe for two separate tours, perform with
acclaimed pianist Menahem Pressler, appear at the Casals
Festival, and participate in Beethoven cycles around the
United States.
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
while they were all teenagers. Sibbi later introduced
violist Masumi Per 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)
For further information about the Pacifica Quartet, please
visit
www.pacificaquartet.com. For their New Orleans concert
they will be joined by the acclaimed pianist Menahem
Pressler.