World-renowned Pacifica Quartet Appointed
Quartet-in-Residence at the

Indiana University Jacobs School of Music

(March 7, 2012)  The Indiana University Jacobs School of Music announced today that the Grammy Award-­winning  PACIFICA QUARTET, one of the leading chamber music ensembles worldwide, has been appointed as its quartet-in-residence. The four members of the ensemble - Simin Ganatra and Sibbi Bernhardsson, violin; Masumi Per Rostad, viola; and Brandon Vamos, cello - will join the school's full-time faculty, beginning fall 2012.

"It has been more than fifty years since Indiana University has had a quartet-in-residence, with all members on the faculty," said Jacobs School of Music Dean Gwyn Richards. "During that time, the role of chamber music in the education of our students has become a foundational gateway to multiple artistic realms. It is particularly exciting to know that the Pacifica Quartet will join us now, as we continue to develop this area of our school."

"Having the Pacifica Quartet as quartet-in-residence fulfills a long held passion of virtually every string faculty member of the Jacobs School of Music for such a group," said Lawrence Hurst, Chair of the Jacobs School's String Department. "The Pacifica has everything one associates with great chamber music: artistry, passion, precision, communication and great style. Added to these attributes is a dedication to teaching and students that is unusual among such ensembles. We have a perfect fit for Indiana University and the Jacobs School of Music."

The Pacifica Quartet commented,"We feel deeply honored to be joining this fantastic institution. Indiana University's Jacobs School of Music has such a storied legacy of excellence in music. We are excited to work with the outstanding students there, and be part of the wonderful faculty at the Jacobs School of Music."

Pianist Menahem Pressler noted, "It is with great delight that I heard the wonderful news that the Pacifica Quartet, who is without a doubt one of the finest young quartets playing today, has joined the faculty of the Jacobs School of Music.  The position of Indiana University, which already has one of the great music schools, will be further enhanced by having the the Pacifica Quartet on the faculty. Congratulations to both the Pacifica Quartet and the University!" 

As resident faculty of the Jacobs School, the ensemble's members will be involved in educational and performance activities such as teaching privately, coaching chamber music, working collaboratively with faculty and departments, and performing concerts.

 ABOUT THE PACIFICA QUARTET

Named Musical America's 2009 Ensemble of the Year, the Pacifica Quartet has gained international stature as one of the finest chamber ensembles performing today. In the same year, the Pacifica Quartet received a Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music Performance in a recording of the Elliott Carter String Quartets Nos. 1 and 5.

Shortly after its 1994 formation, the ensemble won the 1998 Naumburg Prize, and has since received many honors, including an appointment as quartet-in-residence at The Metropolitan Museum of Art (2009-12), a position previously held by the Guarneri Quartet.

This spring, the Quartet embarks on its second European tour of the season with stops in Germany, Switzerland, Italy, and Great Britain, with debut appearances in Berlin, Luxemburg and Padua. In London, the Wigmore Hall is presenting the Pacifica's Shostakovich cycle in a series of six concerts, while back in New York City and Denver, the ensemble concludes its monumental Beethoven cycle at The Metropolitan Museum of Art and for the Denver Friends of Chamber Music.

The Pacifica Quartet continues its inventive CD survey of Dmitri Shostakovich's complete string quartets on Cedille Records with a 

new album that pairs the composer's first four quartets with one by Sergei Prokofiev. The second in a four-part series of studio recordings that launched in late 2011, "The Soviet Experience Vol. II: String Quartets by Dmitri Shostakovich and his Contemporaries," will be released March 27.

Prior to their appointment at the Jacobs School, the members of the Pacifica Quartet were appointed to the faculty of the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, serving as quartet-in-­residence from 2003 to 2012. They are also resident performing artists at the University of Chicago.    

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