The Brentano Quartet is an American

string quartet The term string quartet refers to either a type of musical composition or a group of four people who play them. Many composers from the mid-18th century onwards wrote string quartets. The associated musical ensemble consists of two Violin, violini ...

History

Founded in 1992 at the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a Private university, private performing arts music school, conservatory in New York City. Founded by Frank Damrosch as the Institute of Musical Art in 1905, the school later added dance and drama programs and became ...

, the quartet's founding members were

violinist The following lists of violinists are available: * List of classical violinists * List of contemporary classical violinists * List of jazz violinists * List of popular music violinists * List of Indian violinists * List of Persian violinists * Li ...

s Mark Steinberg and Serena Canin, violist Misha Amory, and

cellist The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

Michael Kannen. At the suggestion of Canin's husband, a pianist, the quartet took its name from Antonie Brentano, who has been proposed as

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

's "

Immortal Beloved The Immortal Beloved (German "Unsterbliche Geliebte") is the addressee of a love letter which composer Ludwig van Beethoven wrote on 6 or 7 July 1812 in Teplitz (then in the Austrian Empire, now in the Czech Republic). The unsent letter is writ ...

". The quartet made its public New York City concert debut in February 1994. In 1995, the quartet received the Naumburg Award and the Martin Segal Prize. Kannen left the quartet in May 1998, following his wife's injury in an automobile accident, to care for his young child. Nina Lee then joined the quartet as the ensemble's cellist. The quartet has since worked together with Kannen as guest cellist, such as in concerts in March 2008 at the

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsyl ...

and in September 2014 at

Amherst College Amherst College ( ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1821 as an attempt to relocate Williams College by its then-president Zepha ...

. Kannen has also returned as a substitute cellist with the quartet when Lee was pregnant. In 1999, the quartet became the first ensemble-in-residence at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

, having first performed as guest artists at Princeton in 1993. The quartet appeared for the first time at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 2013 in Fort Worth, Texas, where they performed piano quintets with each of the competition's 12 semifinalists. The quartet held their Princeton residency until 2014. In November 2013, the Brentano Quartet was announced as the new faculty quartet-in-residence at the Yale School of Music, in succession to the Tokyo String Quartet, effective in July 2014. The Brentano Quartet has commissioned new compositions from such composers as Gabriela Lena Frank, and also have commissioned new works under the umbrellas of 'Art of the Fugue Project' and 'Fragments Project'. The quartet has made commercial recordings for such labels as

Naxos Naxos (; , ) is a Greek island belonging to the Cyclades island group. It is the largest island in the group. It was an important centre during the Bronze Age Cycladic Culture and in the Ancient Greek Archaic Period. The island is famous as ...

. In other media, the quartet was featured on the soundtrack of the 2012 film '' A Late Quartet''. Lee made a cameo appearance in the film as a fictionalised version of herself, as the cellist of a fictitious piano trio led by

Wallace Shawn Wallace Michael Shawn (born November 12, 1943) is an American actor, essayist, playwright, and screenwriter. He is known for playing Vizzini in '' The Princess Bride'' (1987), Mr. Hall in '' Clueless'' (1995), Dr. John Sturgis in '' Young Sheldo ...

References

External links

* {{Authority control Musical groups established in 1992 Musical groups from New Jersey American string quartets Erato Records artists 1992 establishments in New York City