“The whole performance was superb.” - The New York Times

 The Shanghai Quartet is renowned for its passionate musicality, impressive technique, and multicultural innovations.  Its elegant style of melding the delicacy of Eastern music with the emotional breadth of Western repertoire allows it to traverse musical genres, from traditional Chinese folk music and masterpieces of Western music, to cutting edge contemporary works. The Quartet celebrates its 25th anniversary in the 2008-09 season with world premieres from the three continents that comprise its artistic and cultural worlds: Krzysztof Penderecki’s String
The Quartet has a long history of championing new music and juxtaposing Eastern and Western sounds.  Among its major commissions and premieres are works by Lowell Lieberman, Bright Sheng, and Zhou Long.

The Shanghai Quartet has appeared in a diverse and interesting array of media projects, ranging from a cameo appearance in the Woody Allen film “Melinda and Melinda” playing Bartok’s String Quartet No. 4 (and the film’s soundtrack recording) to PBS’s Great Performances series for television.  Other film credits include an appearance by violinist Weigang Li in the documentary “From Mao to Mozart: Isaac Stern in China,” and the family of cellist Nicholas Tzavaras’ as the subject of the 1999 film “Music of the Heart” starring Meryl Streep. 

The Shanghai Quartet has a distinguished teaching record, and currently serves as Ensemble-in-Residence at Montclair State University in New Jersey. The Quartet holds the esteemed title of visiting guest professors of the Shanghai Conservatory and the Central Conservatory in China.

2011/2012
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