The Cleveland Quartet was a

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 ...

founded in 1969 by

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

ist

Donald Weilerstein Donald Weilerstein (born 1940) is an American violinist and pedagogue. Early life and education Weilerstein was born in Washington, D.C. and raised in Berkeley, California. He began playing the violin at the age of four and earned a Bachelor o ...

, at the time an instructor at the

Cleveland Institute of Music The Cleveland Institute of Music (CIM) is a private music conservatory in Cleveland, Ohio. Founded in 1920 by Ernest Bloch, it enrolls 325 students in the conservatory and approximately 1,500 students in the preparatory and continuing educatio ...

, whose director

Victor Babin Vronsky & Babin were regarded by many as one of the foremost duo-piano teams of the twentieth century. Vitya Vronsky (''Viktoria Mikhailovna Vronskaya'', 22 August 190928 June 1992) was born in the Crimean city of Yevpatoria, Russia. Victor Babin ...

had secured funding for an in-resident quartet (the institute's first) to be headed by Weilerstein. Weilerstein formed the group that summer at the

Marlboro Music School and Festival The Marlboro Music School and Festival is a retreat for advanced classical training and musicianship held for seven weeks each summer in Marlboro, Vermont, in the United States. Public performances are held each weekend while the school is in sess ...

with violinist

Peter Salaff Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a sur ...

, violist

Martha Strongin Katz Martha Strongin Katz is a violist and member of the faculty of the New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) in Boston, Massachusetts, where she teaches viola and chamber music. She was a founding member of the Cleveland Quartet, along with her form ...

, and cellist

Paul Katz Paul Katz is an American cellist, who was a member of the Cleveland Quartet from 1969 to 1995.Katherine Millett "Cellist Paul Katz Puts His Students on Equal Footing" ''Strings'' August/Sept, 2007 He and his wife, pianist Pei-Shan Lee, reside in B ...

. The group was initially called the "New Cleveland Quartet." In 1971, the group left the Cleveland Institute because of disagreements over teaching loads and took up residency at the

University at Buffalo, The State University of New York The State University of New York at Buffalo, commonly called the University at Buffalo (UB) and sometimes called SUNY Buffalo, is a public research university with campuses in Buffalo and Amherst, New York. The university was founded in 1846 ...

; they dropped the word "New" from their name at this time. In 1976, the quartet made their final change of residency and moved to the

Eastman School of Music The Eastman School of Music is the music school of the University of Rochester, a private research university in Rochester, New York. It was established in 1921 by industrialist and philanthropist George Eastman. It offers Bachelor of Music (B.M ...

in Rochester, New York. The quartet had three personnel changes: violist

Atar Arad Atar Arad (Hebrew: עתר ארד; born 8 March 1945) is an Israeli American violist, professor of music, essayist and composer. Biography Arad and his brother, architect Ron Arad, were born in Tel Aviv, Israel. Arad began his training on the vio ...

replaced Strongin Katz in 1980; violist James Dunham then replaced Arad in 1987; and

William Preucil William Preucil (born January 30, 1958) is an American violinist. During a musical career spanning several decades, he served as concertmaster for four major American orchestras, most notably the Cleveland Orchestra from 1995, until he was dismiss ...

replaced Weilerstein as first violin in 1989. The quartet disbanded in 1995. Preucil became concertmaster of the

Cleveland Orchestra The Cleveland Orchestra, based in Cleveland, is one of the five American orchestras informally referred to as the " Big Five". Founded in 1918 by the pianist and impresario Adella Prentiss Hughes, the orchestra plays most of its concerts at Sev ...

, a position he held until 2018, when he was fired for sexual misconduct. Paul Katz, Martha Strongin Katz and Donald Weilerstein are on the faculty of the New England Conservatory of Music, and Weilerstein performs in a trio with his wife Vivian Hornik Weilerstein and his daughter, cellist

Alisa Weilerstein Alisa Weilerstein (born April 14, 1982) is an American classical cellist. She was named a 2011 MacArthur Fellow. Life and career Weilerstein was born in Rochester, New York. to a secular Jewish family. She started playing the cello at age four. ...

; Peter Salaff was on the faculty of the Cleveland Institute of Music through the summer of 2018; Atar Arad teaches at the

Jacobs School of Music The Indiana University Jacobs School of Music in Bloomington, Indiana, is a music conservatory established in 1921. Until 2005, it was known as the Indiana University School of Music. It has more than 1,500 students, approximately half of whom ar ...

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universit ...

; and James Dunham teaches at the

Shepherd School of Music The Shepherd School of Music is a music school located on the campus of Rice University in Houston, Texas. From its inception in 1974Ericson, R."Unafraid, a New Music School Opens; NOT JUST MOSTLY MOZART" ''The New York Times'', March 10, 1974, p. ...

Rice University William Marsh Rice University (Rice University) is a Private university, private research university in Houston, Houston, Texas. It is on a 300-acre campus near the Houston Museum District and adjacent to the Texas Medical Center. Rice is ranke ...

. The quartet recorded prodigiously for

RCA Red Seal RCA Red Seal is a classical music label whose origin dates to 1902 and is currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment. History The first "Gramophone Record Red Seal" discs were issued in 1901.Telarc Telarc International Corporation is an American audiophile independent record label founded in 1977 by two classically trained musicians and former teachers, Jack Renner and Robert Woods. Based in Cleveland, Ohio, the label has had a long associ ...

label.

References

External links

Official site
(

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)
The Cleveland String Quartet records, 1965-2001
Music Division, The New York Public Library. Grammy Award winners Musical groups established in 1969 American string quartets Musical groups disestablished in 1995 Musical groups from Cleveland {{Classical-ensemble-stub