PRINCETON UNIVERSITY CONCERTS

Internationally recognized as one of the world’s finest quartets, The American String Quartet celebrated its Thirtieth Anniversary during the 2005-2006 season, marked by the American’s début in a new series of recordings on the Arabesque label, including quartets of celebrated composer Richard Danielpour, and the launch of the Complete Brahms String Chamber Music featuring a stellar list of collaborative artists.

Highlights of last season included performances with Guillermo Figueroa and Lydia Artimiw, and a tour of Europe. The Quartet was honored to be selected to represent the chamber music field in a series of retrospective concerts celebrating the Naumburg Foundation’s 80th Anniversary, performed by previous winners of the Naumburg Award.

In three decades of touring, the American Quartet has performed in all fifty states and appeared in virtually every important concert hall throughout the world. Its presentations of the complete quartet cycles of Beethoven, Schubert, Schoenberg, Bartók, and Mozart have won widespread critical acclaim. The 1998 MusicMasters Complete Mozart String Quartets performed on a matched quartet of instruments by Stradivarius are widely considered to have set the standard for this repertory.

The American Quartet’s innovative approach to concert programming has won it a number of notable residencies in recent years, including Beethoven the Contemporary at the University of Michigan, The Six Mozart Viola Quintets at the Aspen Music Festival with Guarneri Quartet violist Michael Tree (broadcast live nationally via Chicago superstation WFMT), and a recent four-year cycle entitled “4 ... 5 ... 6 ...” for Princeton University Concerts, where the American performed the complete quintets and sextets of Mozart and Brahms, joined in each concert by renowned guest artists.

Resident Quartet at the Aspen Music Festival since 1974, and the Manhattan School of Music in New York since 1984, the American has also served as Resident Quartet at the Taos School of Music (1979 to 1998), the Peabody Conservatory, and the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition.

The Quartet's diverse activities have also included numerous international radio and television broadcasts, tours of Asia, and performances with the New York City Ballet, the Montreal Symphony, and the Philadelphia Orchestra.

The American's extensive discography can be heard on the Albany, CRI, MusicMasters, Musical Heritage Society, Nonesuch, and RCA labels. Popular with national radio audiences, the American has been featured on Minnesota Public Radio’s St. Paul Sunday, National Public Radio’s All Things Considered, and live broadcasts on WFMT.

Founded in 1974, when its original members were students at The Juilliard School, the American String Quartet was launched by winning both the Coleman Competition and the Naumburg Award in the same year. Individually, the members devote additional time outside the Quartet's active performance and teaching schedule to solo appearances, recitals, and master classes.