Back to the 2001-2002 Season

THE PACIFICA STRING QUARTET

Saturday evening, September 29, 2001, at 7:30 p.m.
Martha-Ellen Tye Recital Hall, ISU Music Hall

One of today's most exciting young quartets, the Pacifica Quartet quickly built an enviable reputation for its brilliant ensemble work and its exuberant and impassioned interpretations. Formed in 1994, the group burst onto the music scene when it captured three prestigious awards: Grand Prize at the 1996 Coleman Chamber Music Competition, top prize at the 1997 Concert Artists Guild Competition, and the 1998 Naumburg Chamber Music Award. The New York Times writes, "Its sound, individually and as a group, is pure, lyrical, and educated ... remarkable" while the Los Angeles Times says, "their confidence is high and their playing compellingly expressive."

The Pacifica Quartet has performed as far afield as Australia, Greece, and Panama, and coast-to-coast from Los Angeles and San Francisco to Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall in New York City. In addition, the Quartet is regularly featured on several of the nation's most reputed radio broadcasts, including Minnesota Public Radio's "St. Paul Sunday" and National Public Radio's "Performance Today." In 1999, the Quartet had the honor of being selected as "Quartet in Residence" at NPR in Washington D.C., where it presented a series of live broadcast concerts over two weeks. The Pacifica Quartet has collaborated with many distinguished artists, including Paul Katz, Eduardo Fernandez, the St. Lawrence String Quartet, and in a recent recording of the Dvorak Viola Quintet for Cedile Records with violist Michael Tree. The Pacifica has participated in numerous festivals, including the Aspen and Bellingham Music Festivals, the Cape and Islands Festival, the Vermont Mozart Festival, and the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival.

Today, in addition to their international touring schedule, the Quartet holds joint appointments as Quartet-in-Residence at Northwestern University and the University of Chicago, where it is the first resident ensemble in the the history of the institution. In addition, the Pacifica has served as Quartet In Residence at the Music Institute of Chicago since 1996. There it was instrumental in creating the Music Integration Project, an innovative program that provides musical performances and teacher training in four of Chicago's inner-city elementary schools. The Quartet has taught at Interlochen for three summers, and is frequently invited for visiting residences at universities and schools nationwide.

The program to be performed in Ames on September 29, 2001, will include

• String Quartet in A minor, Op. 13, "Ist es Wahr?" by Felix Mendelssohn
• String Quartet No. 1, "Métamorphoses nocturnes" by György Ligeti
• Quartet in F, Op. 59, No. 1 by Ludwig van Beethoven.

As part of its outreach mission, Ames Town and Gown will also sponsor two programs for special education students, one at the Ames High School and one at Fellows school on October 1.

The members of the Pacifica Quartet are Simin Ganatra and Sibbi Bernhardsson, violins; Masumi Per Rostad, viola; and Brandon Vamos, cello.

The 2001-2002 season of Ames Town & Gown is presented with support from the Ames Commission on the Arts. Educational outreach events by the Pacifica Quartet are supported by the Iowa Arts Council, a division of the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs.