The Escher String Quartet is an American

string quartet The term string quartet can refer 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 violinists ...

based in New York City, where they serve as Artists of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. Their name derives from the Dutch artist

M. C. Escher Maurits Cornelis Escher (; 17 June 1898 – 27 March 1972) was a Dutch graphic artist who made mathematically inspired woodcuts, lithographs, and mezzotints. Despite wide popular interest, Escher was for most of his life neglected in t ...

Biography

The Escher Quartet was founded in 2005 in New York City, where its original members were studying at the

Manhattan School of Music The Manhattan School of Music (MSM) is a private music conservatory in New York City. The school offers bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees in the areas of classical and jazz performance and composition, as well as a bachelor's in mu ...

. The group tours the US as well as internationally and has performed in Europe, Australia, and China. Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center
Escher String Quartet
Retrieved 13 June 2014. Among the venues where the ensemble has performed are the

Auditorium du Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the '' Venus de Milo''. A central ...

in Paris, Kennedy Center in Washington DC, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, and Wigmore Hall in London. The quartet served on the BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists scheme from 2010 until 2012.

BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, Radio drama, drama, High culture, culture and the arts ...

BBC New Generation Artists
Retrieved 13 June 2014. They were also invited by Pinchas Zukerman to serve as Quartet in Residence at the Young Artists Programme at Canada's National Arts Centre and were invited by

Itzhak Perlman Itzhak Perlman ( he, יצחק פרלמן; born August 31, 1945) is an Israeli-American violinist widely considered one of the greatest violinists in the world. Perlman has performed worldwide and throughout the United States, in venues that hav ...

to the

Perlman Music Program The Perlman Music Program is a summer program for gifted young musicians. Founded by Toby Perlman, wife of Israeli-American violinist Itzhak Perlman, in 1995, the program is headquartered in Shelter Island, New York. It offers exceptionally talent ...

on Shelter Island, New York. From 2007 until 2009, the quartet was in residence at

Stony Brook University Stony Brook University (SBU), officially the State University of New York at Stony Brook, is a public research university in Stony Brook, New York. Along with the University at Buffalo, it is one of the State University of New York system's ...

br>"New Southampton Sunday Music Series Kicks Off With Escher String Quartet"
. Retrieved 13 June 2014. Escher has been mentored by the Emerson String Quartet and has collaborated with artists that include Leon Fleischer, David Finckel, Wu Han, Benjamin Grosvenor, jazz vocalist Kurt Elling, and jazz saxophonist Joshua Redman

Emerson String Quartet
. Retrieved 13 June 2014. In 2013 the Escher Quartet was awarded the Lincoln Center's

Avery Fisher Career Grant {{third-party, date=November 2017 The Avery Fisher Career Grant, established by Avery Fisher, is an award given to up to five outstanding instrumentalists each year (since 2004, chamber music groups are also eligible). The Career Grants are a part o ...

. Lincoln Center
Avery Fisher Career Grants 2013
Retrieved 26 June 2014. In 2015 the quartet was awarded the Martin. E. Segal Award by Lincoln Center. In 2023–2024 the Escher Quartet served as season artists for the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.

Members

*Adam Barnett-Hart, violin *Brendan Speltz, violin *Pierre Lapointe, viola *Brook Speltz, cello

Former Members

*Aaron Boyd, violin

Recordings

The Escher String Quartet is best known for its recordings of Alexander von Zemlinsky's complete string quartets. In 2015, the quartet began releasing recordings of Mendelssohn's complete string quartets on the BIS label.BI

" BIS Artists: Escher String Quartet". Retrieved 12 October 2015 * Music@Menlo: ''Bridging the Ages'', Disc 5. 2008. Music@Menlo Live *Amy Cheney Beach Piano Quintet / Alan Louis Smith Vignettes: ''Covered Wagon Woman''. 2011.

Chamber Music Society ''Chamber Music Society'' is the third studio album by American bassist and singer Esperanza Spalding. It was released on August 17, 2010 by Heads Up International. After Spalding's Grammy win for Best New Artist, the album re-entered the ''Bi ...

Studio Recordings *''Stony Brook Soundings'', Vol. 1, 2011. Bridge RecordsCahill, Greg (October 2010)
"An Impressive Collection of Modern Chamber Works from Stony Brook"
''Strings''. *Alexander Zemlinsky String Quartets, Vol. 1, 2013. Naxos *Alexander Zemlinsky String Quartets, Vol. 2, 2014. Naxos *Mendelssohn: String Quartets No. 1 in E Flat Major and No. 4 in E Minor, 2015. BIS *Mendelssohn: String Quartets No. 2 in A Minor and No. 3 in D Major, 2015. BIS *Mendelssohn: String Quartets No. 5 in E Flat Major and No. 6 in F Minor, 2016. BIS *Dvořák: American Quartet; Tchaikovsky: Quartet No. 1; Borodin: Quartet No. 2, 2018. BIS *Samuel Barber: String Quartet in B minor, Op.11; Charles Ives: String Quartet No. 1 (From the Salvation Army) and String Quartet No. 2, 2021.BIS
Samuel Barber: String Quartet in B minor, Op.11; Charles Ives: String Quartet No. 1 (From the Salvation Army) and String Quartet No. 2
Retrieved 9 May 2022. BIS *Pierre Jalbert: String Quartet No. 4, Air in Motion, and String Quartet No. 6 (“Canticle”), 2023. Orchard Classics – with

Carol Wincenc Carol Wincenc ( ) born June 29, 1949 is an American flutist based in New York City. She is known for her solo and chamber music performances and her support of new music for the flute. She is on the faculty of the Juilliard School and Stony Brook ...

(flute) *Pierre Jalbert: String Quartet No. 5 ''Terra Incognita'', 2023. Orchard Classics

References

External links

* * {{Portal bar, Classical music Musical groups from New York City Musical groups established in 2005 American string quartets