The Cavani String Quartet is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

string quartet The term string quartet refers 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 Violin, violini ...

based in

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–United States border, Canada–U.S. maritime border ...

. The quartet is named for the 19th century

violin makers A luthier ( ; ) is a craftsperson who builds or repairs string instruments. Etymology The word ' is originally French and comes from ''luth'', the French word for "lute". The term was originally used for makers of lutes, but it came to be u ...

Giovanni and Vincenzo Cavani. The quartet formed in 1984 and became the Quartet-in-Residence at the

Cleveland Institute of Music The Cleveland Institute of Music (CIM) is a private music conservatory in Cleveland, Ohio. The school was founded in 1920 by a group of supporters led by Martha Bell Sanders and Mary Hutchens Smith, with Ernest Bloch serving as its first dire ...

in 1988. They have collaborated for many years in special performances with the poet Mwatabu Okantah. The quartet has recorded music by

Béla Bartók Béla Viktor János Bartók (; ; 25 March 1881 – 26 September 1945) was a Hungarian composer, pianist and ethnomusicologist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century; he and Franz Liszt are regarded as Hunga ...

Maurice Ravel Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism in music, Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composer ...

Antonín Dvořák Antonín Leopold Dvořák ( ; ; 8September 18411May 1904) was a Czech composer. He frequently employed rhythms and other aspects of the folk music of Moravia and his native Bohemia, following the Romantic-era nationalist example of his predec ...

Robert Schumann Robert Schumann (; ; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and music critic of the early Romantic music, Romantic era. He composed in all the main musical genres of the time, writing for solo piano, voice and piano, chamber ...

Johannes Brahms Johannes Brahms (; ; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor of the mid-Romantic period (music), Romantic period. His music is noted for its rhythmic vitality and freer treatment of dissonance, oft ...

, Dan Welcher,

Donald Erb Donald Erb (January 17, 1927 – August 12, 2008) was an American composer best known for large orchestral works such as Concerto for Brass and Orchestra and ''Ritual Observances''. Early years Erb was born in Youngstown, Ohio, graduate ...

Ernest Chausson Amédée-Ernest Chausson (; 20 January 1855 – 10 June 1899) was a French Romantic composer. Life Born in Paris into an affluent bourgeois family, Chausson was the sole surviving child of a building contractor who made his fortune assisting Ba ...

Leo Brouwer Juan Leovigildo Brouwer Mezquida (born March 1, 1939) is a Cubans, Cuban composer, conducting, conductor, and classical guitarist. He is a Member of Honour of the International Music Council. Early years Brouwer was born in Havana, Cuba. When he ...

, and James Primosch for the Albany, Azica, Gasparo, New World, and Pantheon labels. They won the Naumburg Chamber Music Award in 1989. For their 20th anniversary, they commissioned the work ''Musings for String Quintet'' from composer Joseph Hallman. The premiere took place with

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. ...

, cellist, at the

. The quartet has been partners with many organizations, including the Chamber Music Connection, led by Debbie Price. They also run many free concerts for growing and learning string players, many of whom are under age 18. In June 2018, the Cleveland Institute of Music announced the severance of its affiliation with the Cavani String Quartet.

Members

*Annie Fullard, violin I (founding member) *Catherine Cosbey, violin II (joined 2019) *Eric Wong, viola (joined 2016) *Kyle Price, cello (joined 2019)

Past members

*Kirsten Docter, viola (founding member 1984–2016) *Merry Peckham, cello (founding member 1984–2016) *Erika Eckert, viola (founding member 1984–1993) *Mari Sato, violin (1995–2019) *Susan Waterbury, violin (founding member) *Si-Yan Darren Li, cello (2017–2018)

References

External links

Cavani String Quartet official site

Dave DeOreo, 'Cavani String Quartet Presses the Refresh Button' WCPN 90.3 FM, 'Ideastream' blog, 19 January 2018
Musical groups established in 1984 American string quartets Musical groups from Cleveland Cleveland Institute of Music {{classical-ensemble-stub