FACULTY: QUARTETS IN RESIDENCE

The Amernet String Quartet: Ensemble-in-Residence at  Florida International University.  Winner, Gold Medal at the 7th Tokyo International Music Competition and First Prize at the 5th Banff International String Quartet Competition. Formed in 1991, by Marcia Littley and Javier Arias who have been joined by fellow Juilliard graduates, violinist Misha Vitenson and violist Michael Klotz . Performances across the U.S. as well as in Japan, Canada, Germany, France, Switzerland, Korea, Mexico, and Romania.   Residencies at Northern Kentucky University and University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.   Received grants from the Corbett Foundation, the Greater Cincinnati Foundation, the LaSalle Foundation, the Fine Arts Fund, the Cincinnati Chamber Music Society and the Amernet Society for school outreach projects, commissions of new chamber music works and for their unique concert and conversation series.   Recipient of a Chamber Music Rural Residency Award in 1995. Founders of The Norse Festival, a summer chamber music workshop at Northern Kentucky University providing an opportunity for young musicians from the region to work intensively in chamber groups. Currently they host an annual summer Chamber Music Camp in Miami called Animato. In residence June 28 – July 5.

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The Juilliard String Quartet: Quartet-in-residence, The Juilliard School. In the 60 years of its existence, the ever-evolving institution that is the JUILLIARD STRING QUARTET has become a living American legend. It has, from the beginning and throughout its career, been recognized for the boldness of its interpretation of the classics, with an equal and parallel tradition of championing the new; a vibrant combination of the familiar and the daring. In a history of "Firsts", the Juilliards have played the American premieres of the six Bartok Quartets, Shostakovich's Quartet no. 15, and Dutilleux's "Ainsi la Nuit" as well as the world premieres of works by more than 60 American composers — in and amongst thousands of performances of the great classics of Haydn, Mozart, Schubert, and Brahms, their own scoring of Bach's Art of the Fugue , complete Beethoven cycles in many capitals of the world, including New York, Tokyo, Bonn, and, most recently, Washington, D.C. where, for more than four decades, they were the Quartet in Residence at the Library of Congress, the celebrated "First Family" of chamber music in the United States. The Quartet's sound is famously characterized by clarity of structure, compelling rhythmic drive and an extraordinary unanimity of purpose no matter what the work at hand.  In residence, June 25 – 26.

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The Shanghai Quartet : Ensemble-in-Residence, Montclair State University. Originally formed in Shanghai, this versatile ensemble is known for their passionate musicality, virtuosic technique and multicultural innovations. The Shanghai Quartet melds the delicacy of Eastern music with the power of Western repertoire, from traditional Chinese folk music to the most challenging classical works. The Quartet regularly tours the great music centers of North and South America, Asia, and Europe. They have appeared frequently at New York's Carnegie Hall, and their travels have taken them from London, Vienna and Prague, to Australia's Sydney Opera House. The Shanghai Quartet has long-championed new music, juxtaposing Eastern and Western sounds. Their extensive discography has grown to 24 recordings. The Shanghai Quartet's wide array of media projects include the soundtrack and a cameo appearance in Woody Allen's 2005 film "Melinda and Melinda" (Bart—k Quartet No. 4). They have also appeared on PBS's Great Performances and can be heard regularly on NPR.   They also serve as visiting professors at the Shanghai Conservatory and the Central Conservatory in China. In residence, July 10 – July 17.

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