The Esterhazy 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 ...

founded in 1968 as the ensemble-in-residence of the University of Missouri and is composed of faculty members at the

University of Missouri School of Music The School of Music is an Academic department, academic division of the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri. Its focus is the study of music, awarding Bachelor's degree, baccalaureate, Master's degree, master's, and Doctorate, doctoral ...

Columbia Columbia may refer to: * Columbia (personification), the historical female national personification of the United States, and a poetic name for America Places North America Natural features * Columbia Plateau, a geologic and geographic region in ...

. The Esterhazy Quartet's current members are: * Eva Szekely (violin) * Julie Rosenfeld (violin) * Leslie Perna (viola) * Eli Lara (cello) The founding members of the Esterhazy Quartet are Carlton Spotts (cello), Ulrich Dannemann (viola), Eugene Gratovich (violin), and Ruth Allen (violin). Other previous ensemble members include Susan Jensen (violin) and Darry Dolezal (cello). The ensemble takes its name from the

Esterházy The House of Esterházy, also spelled Eszterházy (), is a Hungarian noble family with origins in the Middle Ages. From the 17th century, the Esterházys were the greatest landowner magnates of the Kingdom of Hungary, during the time that it ...

royalty of 18th-century Austria and the family's association with and patronage of the composer Franz

Joseph Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( , ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions ...

. While the Esterhazy Quartet performs both standard and modern string quartet repertoire, the ensemble is committed to performing and promoting the music of contemporary composers, particularly the music of modern composers of both North and South America. The Esterhazy Quartet maintains an active touring and performing schedule in the Americas and

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

, including performances for the Mozarteum in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

, the Beethoven Society in Santiago de Chile, the Haydn Festspiele in Austria, and the

Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, formerly known as The Banff Centre (and previously The Banff Centre for Continuing Education), located in Banff, Alberta, was established in 1933 as the Banff School of Drama. It was granted full autonomy as ...

in Banff,

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

. They have been frequently featured on

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other n ...

broadcasts such as the highly acclaimed ''Hear America First'' and ''Quartessence'' series. Festival appearances for the ensemble include the Western Arts Festival, the Texas Music Festival, and the ''International Chamber Music Festival'' in

Belém Belém (; Portuguese for Bethlehem; initially called Nossa Senhora de Belém do Grão-Pará, in English Our Lady of Bethlehem of Great Pará) often called Belém of Pará, is a Brazilian city, capital and largest city of the state of Pará in t ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. Since 1996, the Esterhazy Quartet has collaborated with the

Berklee College of Music Berklee College of Music is a private music college in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern American music, it also offers college-level cours ...

in (

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

) to spend a week as a visiting ensemble-in-residence that offers composition students not only the opportunity to write and develop pieces for string quartet ensemble, but also allows students to hear a world-class ensemble perform their compositions. Additionally, the Esterhazy Quartet has sponsored the annual Esterhazy String Quartet Seminar at the

for a select group of sixteen advanced high school violin, viola, and cello students, wherein students study and perform an entire work from chamber music repertoire, participate in private lessons, receive ensemble coaching, and also perform in solo masterclasses. The Esterhazy Quartet's recordings can be heard on the

CRI CRI or CRi may refer to: Organizations * Canadian Rivers Institute, for river sciences, University of New Brunswick * Cancer Research Institute, New York, US * Centro de Relaciones Internacionales (International Relations Center), Universidad Nac ...

(now New World Records), Albany Records, and Spectrum labels.

Notes

References

External links

Esterhazy Quartet
{{authority control American string quartets University of Missouri University of Missouri School of Music faculty Musical groups from Columbia, Missouri Musical groups established in the 1970s