Known for its refined, warm, and rich tone, the Euclid Quartet announced the release of its second album on Afinat Records, BREVE, a follow-up to the acclaimed 2017 recording American Quartets: Antonín Dvořák & Wynton Marsalis. Dedicated to Ernestine M. Raclin, a longtime donor to Indiana University South Bend, where the Euclid Quartet has served as Quartet-in-Residence for the past 16 years, BREVE captures the arc of the group’s musical and collective evolution.
Praised for its “knockout performances” by The Los Angeles Times, the Euclid Quartet has performed hundreds of concerts, often delighting audiences with short pieces like those featured in BREVE. “We thought it would be fun to collect these contrasting little gems together in one album,” explains violinist Jameson Cooper. “These works have been with us every step on our 25-year journey and it is long overdue to spotlight them. Most of them feel very much like ‘old friends’ of the Euclid Quartet!”
Designed to be played on shuffle, the 11 single-movement tracks only have their brevity in common— otherwise their styles and moods are about as disparate as classical quartet music gets. Spanning three centuries, the pieces include an adagio and fugue by Mozart, a polka by Shostakovich, a tango by Piazzolla, a lullaby by Gershwin, a rag by Bolcom, and more.
BREVE is a refreshing departure from the ensemble’s previous releases of four composer-centric albums. The quartet’s recording of AntonínDvořák and Wynton Marsalis was praised by The Strad: “The members of the Euclid Quartet hurl themselves into the fray with alacrity, relishing the music’s invention with contagious wit and virtuosity.” About their 2013 album Bartok – String Quartets 1, 3 and 5 (Artek), American Record Guide raved, “rarely has a group found such meaning and vision.”
The Euclid Quartet will celebrate the album’s release at Indiana University South Bend on Jan 31, 2024.
About the Euclid Quartet
The Euclid Quartet enjoys one of the most highly regarded reputations of any chamber ensemble of its generation, with its members’ constituting a multinational mix: violinists Jameson Cooper and Aviva Hakanoglu, violist Luis Enrique Vargas, and cellist Justin Goldsmith. Captivating audiences and critics ranging from Carnegie Hall to school classrooms to radio and television broadcasts, the quartet consistently performs to enthusiastic acclaim throughout the country.
Formed in Ohio in 1998, the Euclid Quartet takes its name from the famous Euclid Avenue in Cleveland, home to a wealth of renowned artistic and cultural institutions. Within three years, the ensemble was awarded the String Quartet Fellowship of the Aspen Music Festival, where it was invited to return for the subsequent summer’s concert season. The quartet was also invited to study with the Emerson String Quartet at the Carnegie Hall Professional Training Workshop. Highlights of the Euclid Quartet’s career include significant global recognition as the first American string quartet to be awarded a top prize at the prestigious Osaka International Chamber Music Competition. Prior to its Japanese laurels, the quartet also won awards in numerous United States competitions, including the Hugo Kauder International Competition for String Quartets, The Carmel Chamber Music Competition and the Chamber Music Yellow Springs Competition. In 2009, the Euclid Quartet was awarded the esteemed “American Masterpieces” grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.
The Euclid Quartet is the Faculty Quartet-in-Residence at Indiana University South Bend, where its members teach private lessons and coach chamber music. Recently, the Euclid Quartet gave the world premiere of Quarter Days by Anna Clyne. This new concerto for string quartet and orchestra was commissioned by the Fischoff National Chamber Music Association to celebrate its 50th Anniversary.
To learn more about the Euclid Quartet, visit www.euclidquartet.com.
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