Fine Arts Quartet
Encyclopedia
The Fine Arts Quartet, a distinguished chamber music ensemble founded in Chicago
, USA in 1946 by Leonard Sorkin
and George Sopkin
, has an illustrious history of performing success and an extensive recording legacy. It is one of the few to have recorded and toured internationally for over half a century. The Quartet, based at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee since 1963, continues to tour worldwide each season, with concerts in such musical centers as New York, London, Paris, Berlin, Moscow, Rome, Madrid, Tokyo, Beijing, Istanbul, Jerusalem, Mexico City, and Toronto. Three of the Quartet's artists, violinist Ralph Evans
, violinist Efim Boico, and cellist Wolfgang Laufer, had performed together for 28 years, up to the time of Wolfgang Laufer's death on June 8, 2011. Violist Nicolò Eugelmi joined the Quartet in July 2009.
. The Quartet's first performance took place in 1940 with Leonard Sorkin, Ben Senescu, Sheppard Lehnhoff, and George Sopkin. Military service in World War II intervened, however, and it was not until 1946, now with the new second violinist Joseph Stepansky, that the Quartet began to rehearse and perform regularly. The complete membership history of the Fine Arts Quartet, from 1946 to the present, is detailed in a section below.
The Quartet members have helped form and nurture many of today's top international young ensembles. Their first teaching residency, 1951–1954, was at Northwestern University
. In 1963, the Quartet was invited to become Quartet-in-Residence at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, and its members have been professors there ever since. In recent years, they have also been guest professors at the national music conservatories of Paris and Lyon
, as well as at the summer music schools of Yale University
and Indiana University
. They appear regularly as jury members of major competitions such as Evian, Shostakovich, and Bordeaux. Documentaries on the Fine Arts Quartet have appeared on both French and American Public Television.
sponsored the Quartet's tours to Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Australia and New Zealand, and by the late seventies, the Quartet had already performed in some 270 cities in 28 countries. The Quartet continued to broadcast for radio in America (especially for WFMT
-Chicago), in Europe (e.g. the BBC
), and for television (concerts and educational programs for National Public Television
).
The Quartet was also extremely busy recording, releasing over one hundred works during its first 30 years of existence, including cycles of chamber music by Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Mendelssohn
, and Brahms, on such labels as Decca
, Vox
, Vanguard
, Saga, and Concert Disc. But the Quartet was also appreciated for promoting contemporary music through performances, commissions, and recordings, and played a major role in making composers such as Bartók, Shostakovich, Bloch
, Babbitt
, Wuorinen
, Martinon
, Hindemith, Shifrin, Crawford-Seeger
, Johnston, and Husa
, better known and accessible to the public. In particular, their recordings of the six quartets of Béla Bartók became a landmark. These followed a television series featuring a performance of each, preceded by interviews and commentary by the performers, with musical illustrations. The quartet's ability to communicate both the compositional and performing aspects of the works made them powerful advocates of what was then still comparatively unfamiliar and avant-garde repertoire.
String Quartets, three Beethoven String Quintets, the Franck
String Quartet and Piano Quintet, the two Fauré
Piano Quintets, the complete Bruckner
chamber music (including his String Quartet
and Quintet
), quartets by American composers (Antheil
, Herrmann
, Glass
, Evans
), the complete Schumann
String Quartets, the complete Mendelssohn String Quintets, chamber music by Glazunov
, all on Naxos
, the complete Dohnányi String Quartets and Piano Quintets on Aulos, and the complete early Beethoven Quartets on Lyrinx. Releases planned for 2011-12 on Naxos include the quartets of Zimbalist
and Kreisler
, "Harmonies du Soir" by Ysaÿe
for quartet and string orchestra, and three works by Robert Schumann: the Piano Quintet, Piano Quartet, and Märchenerzählungen. A complete list of all known Fine Arts Quartet recordings can be found in the Discography section below.
The Quartet's recent recordings have received many accolades. Their Fauré Quintets CD on Naxos with pianist Cristina Ortiz was named a "Gramophone award-winner and recording of legendary status" in the 2011 Gramophone Classical Music Guide. Their Glazunov, Mendelssohn, and Fauré CD's were each named a "Recording of the Year" by Musicweb International in 2007, 2008, 2009, respectively. Their "Four American Quartets" album was designated a "BBC Music Magazine
Choice" in 2008. The Quartet's Schumann CD was called "one of the very finest chamber music recordings of the year" by the American Record Guide
in 2007, and their box set of the complete Mozart String Quintets, released by Lyrinx in Super Audio CD
format, was named a "Critic's Choice 2003" by the American Record Guide. The Quartet's Fauré CD with pianist Cristina Ortiz
was among the five recordings for which music producer Steven Epstein
won a Grammy Award
in 2010 ("Producer of the Year, Classical
"). Special recognition was also given for the Quartet's commitment to contemporary music: a 2003-2004 national CMA/ASCAP Award for Adventurous Programming, given jointly by Chamber Music America and the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers
.
2nd Violin:
Viola:
Violoncello:
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, USA in 1946 by Leonard Sorkin
Leonard Sorkin
Leonard Sorkin was an accomplished American violinist.Sorkin was born in Chicago in 1916. He received violin training from Mischa Mischakoff. At the age of 18, he joined the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, where he remained until 1943. Sorkin served as concertmaster of the ABC Symphony from 1946 to...
and George Sopkin
George Sopkin
George Sopkin was an American cellist who was a founding member of the Fine Arts Quartet and faculty member at Kneisel Hall School of Chamber Music in Blue Hill, Maine....
, has an illustrious history of performing success and an extensive recording legacy. It is one of the few to have recorded and toured internationally for over half a century. The Quartet, based at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee since 1963, continues to tour worldwide each season, with concerts in such musical centers as New York, London, Paris, Berlin, Moscow, Rome, Madrid, Tokyo, Beijing, Istanbul, Jerusalem, Mexico City, and Toronto. Three of the Quartet's artists, violinist Ralph Evans
Ralph Evans (violinist)
Ralph Evans is an American violinist, best known as first violinist of the Fine Arts Quartet.The son of Jewish refugees from Russia and Germany, Evans began his musical studies at the age of five at the Vienna Academy of Music....
, violinist Efim Boico, and cellist Wolfgang Laufer, had performed together for 28 years, up to the time of Wolfgang Laufer's death on June 8, 2011. Violist Nicolò Eugelmi joined the Quartet in July 2009.
History
Although the Fine Arts Quartet was founded in 1946, the group's members had actually begun working together as early as 1939 while playing in the Chicago Symphony OrchestraChicago Symphony Orchestra
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Chicago, Illinois. It is one of the five American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five". Founded in 1891, the Symphony makes its home at Orchestra Hall in Chicago and plays a summer season at the Ravinia Festival...
. The Quartet's first performance took place in 1940 with Leonard Sorkin, Ben Senescu, Sheppard Lehnhoff, and George Sopkin. Military service in World War II intervened, however, and it was not until 1946, now with the new second violinist Joseph Stepansky, that the Quartet began to rehearse and perform regularly. The complete membership history of the Fine Arts Quartet, from 1946 to the present, is detailed in a section below.
The Quartet members have helped form and nurture many of today's top international young ensembles. Their first teaching residency, 1951–1954, was at Northwestern University
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....
. In 1963, the Quartet was invited to become Quartet-in-Residence at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, and its members have been professors there ever since. In recent years, they have also been guest professors at the national music conservatories of Paris and Lyon
Lyon
Lyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....
, as well as at the summer music schools of Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
and Indiana University
Indiana University
Indiana University is a multi-campus public university system in the state of Indiana, United States. Indiana University has a combined student body of more than 100,000 students, including approximately 42,000 students enrolled at the Indiana University Bloomington campus and approximately 37,000...
. They appear regularly as jury members of major competitions such as Evian, Shostakovich, and Bordeaux. Documentaries on the Fine Arts Quartet have appeared on both French and American Public Television.
Early Recordings and Performance
The Quartet performed on the ABC Radio Network's Sunday morning broadcasts from 1946 until 1954, and by the mid-fifties, was already considered one of America's finest quartets. There was an appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show, frequent performances on the Today Show, and starting in 1958, the Quartet began to tour Europe annually. In the late sixties, the United States Department of StateUnited States Department of State
The United States Department of State , is the United States federal executive department responsible for international relations of the United States, equivalent to the foreign ministries of other countries...
sponsored the Quartet's tours to Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Australia and New Zealand, and by the late seventies, the Quartet had already performed in some 270 cities in 28 countries. The Quartet continued to broadcast for radio in America (especially for WFMT
WFMT
WFMT is an FM radio station in Chicago, Illinois, featuring a format of fine arts, classical music programming, and shows exploring such genres as folk and jazz). The station is managed by Window To The World Communications, Inc., owner of WTTW, one of Chicago's two Public Broadcasting Service ...
-Chicago), in Europe (e.g. the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
), and for television (concerts and educational programs for National Public Television
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
).
The Quartet was also extremely busy recording, releasing over one hundred works during its first 30 years of existence, including cycles of chamber music by Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Mendelssohn
Felix Mendelssohn
Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Barthóldy , use the form 'Mendelssohn' and not 'Mendelssohn Bartholdy'. The Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians gives ' Felix Mendelssohn' as the entry, with 'Mendelssohn' used in the body text...
, and Brahms, on such labels as Decca
Decca Records
Decca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....
, Vox
Vox Records
VOX Records is a budget classical record label. The name is Latin for "voice."-History:Vox was founded in 1945, starting out with 78-rpm discs, specializing in licensed pressings of classical recordings made in Europe. It was one of the last major recording companies to adopt stereo recording,...
, Vanguard
Vanguard Records
Vanguard Records is a record label set up in 1950 by brothers Maynard and Seymour Solomon in New York. It started as a classical label, but is perhaps best known for its catalogue of recordings by a number of pivotal folk and blues artists from the 1960s; the Bach Guild was a subsidiary...
, Saga, and Concert Disc. But the Quartet was also appreciated for promoting contemporary music through performances, commissions, and recordings, and played a major role in making composers such as Bartók, Shostakovich, Bloch
Bloch
Bloch is a surname.#Jewish : regional name for someone in Eastern Europe originating from Italy or France, from Polish "Włoch" meaning "Italian" .#German and Swedish: Variant of Block...
, Babbitt
Milton Babbitt
Milton Byron Babbitt was an American composer, music theorist, and teacher. He is particularly noted for his serial and electronic music.-Biography:...
, Wuorinen
Charles Wuorinen
Charles Peter Wuorinen is a prolific Pulitzer Prize-winning American composer born and living in New York City. His catalog of more than 250 compositions includes works for orchestra, opera, chamber music, as well as solo instrumental and vocal works...
, Martinon
Jean Martinon
Jean Martinon was a French conductor and composer.-Biography:Martinon was born in Lyon, where he began his education, going on to the Conservatoire de Paris to study under Albert Roussel for composition, under Charles Munch and Roger Désormière for conducting, under Vincent d'Indy for harmony,...
, Hindemith, Shifrin, Crawford-Seeger
Ruth Crawford Seeger
Ruth Crawford Seeger , born Ruth Porter Crawford, was a modernist composer and an American folk music specialist.-Life:...
, Johnston, and Husa
Karel Husa
Karel Husa is a Czech-born classical composer and conductor, winner of the 1969 Pulitzer Prize and 1993 University of Louisville Grawemeyer Award in Music Composition...
, better known and accessible to the public. In particular, their recordings of the six quartets of Béla Bartók became a landmark. These followed a television series featuring a performance of each, preceded by interviews and commentary by the performers, with musical illustrations. The quartet's ability to communicate both the compositional and performing aspects of the works made them powerful advocates of what was then still comparatively unfamiliar and avant-garde repertoire.
Recent Recordings and Recognition
The Quartet has recorded over 200 works, over 80 of them with Evans, Boico, and Laufer. Their latest releases include: the two Saint-SaënsCamille Saint-Saëns
Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns was a French Late-Romantic composer, organist, conductor, and pianist. He is known especially for The Carnival of the Animals, Danse macabre, Samson and Delilah, Piano Concerto No. 2, Cello Concerto No. 1, Havanaise, Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso, and his Symphony...
String Quartets, three Beethoven String Quintets, the Franck
César Franck
César-Auguste-Jean-Guillaume-Hubert Franck was a composer, pianist, organist, and music teacher who worked in Paris during his adult life....
String Quartet and Piano Quintet, the two Fauré
Gabriel Fauré
Gabriel Urbain Fauré was a French composer, organist, pianist and teacher. He was one of the foremost French composers of his generation, and his musical style influenced many 20th century composers...
Piano Quintets, the complete Bruckner
Anton Bruckner
Anton Bruckner was an Austrian composer known for his symphonies, masses, and motets. The first are considered emblematic of the final stage of Austro-German Romanticism because of their rich harmonic language, complex polyphony, and considerable length...
chamber music (including his String Quartet
String Quartet (Bruckner)
Anton Bruckner's String Quartet in C minor WAB 111 was written in 1862 as a student exercise for Otto Kitzler, a preliminary to exercises in orchestration...
and Quintet
String Quintet (Bruckner)
Anton Bruckner's String Quintet in F major, WAB 112 was written in 1879 at the request of Joseph Hellmesberger, Sr. and dedicated to Duke Max Emanuel of Bavaria...
), quartets by American composers (Antheil
George Antheil
George Antheil was an American avant-garde composer, pianist, author and inventor. A self-described "Bad Boy of Music", his modernist compositions amazed and appalled listeners in Europe and the US during the 1920s with their cacophonous celebration of mechanical devices.Returning permanently to...
, Herrmann
Bernard Herrmann
Bernard Herrmann was an American composer noted for his work in motion pictures.An Academy Award-winner , Herrmann is particularly known for his collaborations with director Alfred Hitchcock, most famously Psycho, North by Northwest, The Man Who Knew Too Much, and Vertigo...
, Glass
Philip Glass
Philip Glass is an American composer. He is considered to be one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century and is widely acknowledged as a composer who has brought art music to the public .His music is often described as minimalist, along with...
, Evans
Ralph Evans (violinist)
Ralph Evans is an American violinist, best known as first violinist of the Fine Arts Quartet.The son of Jewish refugees from Russia and Germany, Evans began his musical studies at the age of five at the Vienna Academy of Music....
), the complete Schumann
Robert Schumann
Robert Schumann, sometimes known as Robert Alexander Schumann, was a German composer, aesthete and influential music critic. He is regarded as one of the greatest and most representative composers of the Romantic era....
String Quartets, the complete Mendelssohn String Quintets, chamber music by Glazunov
Alexander Glazunov
Alexander Konstantinovich Glazunov was a Russian composer of the late Russian Romantic period, music teacher and conductor...
, all on Naxos
Naxos Records
Naxos Records is a record label specializing in classical music. Through a number of imprints, Naxos also releases genres including Chinese music, jazz, world music, and early rock & roll. The company was founded in 1987 by Klaus Heymann, a German-born resident of Hong Kong.Naxos is the largest...
, the complete Dohnányi String Quartets and Piano Quintets on Aulos, and the complete early Beethoven Quartets on Lyrinx. Releases planned for 2011-12 on Naxos include the quartets of Zimbalist
Efrem Zimbalist
Efrem Zimbalist, Sr. was one of the world's most prominent concert violinists, as well as a composer, teacher, conductor and a long-time director of the Curtis Institute of Music.-Early life:...
and Kreisler
Fritz Kreisler
Friedrich "Fritz" Kreisler was an Austrian-born violinist and composer. One of the most famous violin masters of his or any other day, he was known for his sweet tone and expressive phrasing. Like many great violinists of his generation, he produced a characteristic sound which was immediately...
, "Harmonies du Soir" by Ysaÿe
Eugène Ysaÿe
Eugène Ysaÿe was a Belgian violinist, composer and conductor born in Liège. He was regarded as "The King of the Violin", or, as Nathan Milstein put it, the "tzar"...
for quartet and string orchestra, and three works by Robert Schumann: the Piano Quintet, Piano Quartet, and Märchenerzählungen. A complete list of all known Fine Arts Quartet recordings can be found in the Discography section below.
The Quartet's recent recordings have received many accolades. Their Fauré Quintets CD on Naxos with pianist Cristina Ortiz was named a "Gramophone award-winner and recording of legendary status" in the 2011 Gramophone Classical Music Guide. Their Glazunov, Mendelssohn, and Fauré CD's were each named a "Recording of the Year" by Musicweb International in 2007, 2008, 2009, respectively. Their "Four American Quartets" album was designated a "BBC Music Magazine
BBC music magazine
BBC Music Magazine is a magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom by BBC Worldwide, the commercial subsidiary of the BBC. Reflecting the broadcast output of BBC Radio 3, the magazine is devoted primarily to classical music, though with sections on jazz and world music. Each edition comes...
Choice" in 2008. The Quartet's Schumann CD was called "one of the very finest chamber music recordings of the year" by the American Record Guide
American Record Guide
The American Record Guide is a classical music magazine. It has reviewed classical music recordings since 1935.Since 1992, with the incorporation of the Musical America editorial functions into ARG, it started covering concerts, musicians, ensembles and orchestras in the US.The magazine prides...
in 2007, and their box set of the complete Mozart String Quintets, released by Lyrinx in Super Audio CD
Super Audio CD
Super Audio CD is a high-resolution, read-only optical disc for audio storage. Sony and Philips Electronics jointly developed the technology, and publicized it in 1999. It is designated as the Scarlet Book standard. Sony and Philips previously collaborated to define the Compact Disc standard...
format, was named a "Critic's Choice 2003" by the American Record Guide. The Quartet's Fauré CD with pianist Cristina Ortiz
Cristina Ortiz
-Biography:Born in Bahia, Brazil, Cristina Ortiz began her studies in her home country before moving to France with Magda Tagliaferro. Soon after finishing her studies in Paris, she won the first prize of the third edition of the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition...
was among the five recordings for which music producer Steven Epstein
Steven Epstein (music producer)
Steven Epstein, an American producer of classical music received a B.Sc. in Music education from Hofstra University in 1973.Over the years, Epstein has worked with artists such as Yo-Yo Ma, Wynton Marsalis, Plácido Domingo, Isaac Stern, Itzhak Perlman, Murray Perahia, Emanuel Ax, Bobby McFerrin,...
won a Grammy Award
52nd Grammy Awards
The 52nd Annual Grammy Awards took place on January 31, 2010, at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. Neil Young was honored as the 2010 MusiCares Person of the Year on January 29, two days prior to the Grammy telecast. Only ten of the 109 awards were received during the broadcast...
in 2010 ("Producer of the Year, Classical
Grammy Award for Producer of the Year, Classical
The Grammy Award for Producer of the Year, Classical is an honor presented to record producers for quality classical music productions at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards...
"). Special recognition was also given for the Quartet's commitment to contemporary music: a 2003-2004 national CMA/ASCAP Award for Adventurous Programming, given jointly by Chamber Music America and the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers
American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers
The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization that protects its members' musical copyrights by monitoring public performances of their music, whether via a broadcast or live performance, and compensating them...
.
Fine Arts Quartet Membership History
1st Violin:- Leonard SorkinLeonard SorkinLeonard Sorkin was an accomplished American violinist.Sorkin was born in Chicago in 1916. He received violin training from Mischa Mischakoff. At the age of 18, he joined the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, where he remained until 1943. Sorkin served as concertmaster of the ABC Symphony from 1946 to...
(1946–1982) - Ralph EvansRalph Evans (violinist)Ralph Evans is an American violinist, best known as first violinist of the Fine Arts Quartet.The son of Jewish refugees from Russia and Germany, Evans began his musical studies at the age of five at the Vienna Academy of Music....
(1982-current)
2nd Violin:
- Joseph Stepansky (1946–1954)
- Abram Loft (1954–1979)
- Lawrence Shapiro (1979–1983)
- Efim Boico (1983-current)
Viola:
- Sheppard Lehnhoff (1946–1952)
- Irving Ilmer (1952–1963)
- Gerald Stanick (1963–1968)
- Bernard Zaslav (1968–1980)
- Jerry Horner (1980–2000)
- Michael Strauss (2000–2001)
- Yuri Gandelsman (2001–2008)
- Chauncey Patterson (2008–2009)
- Nicolò Eugelmi (2009-current)
Violoncello:
- George SopkinGeorge SopkinGeorge Sopkin was an American cellist who was a founding member of the Fine Arts Quartet and faculty member at Kneisel Hall School of Chamber Music in Blue Hill, Maine....
(1946–1979) - Wolfgang Laufer (1979-2011)
External links
- Fine Arts Quartet official website
- Fine Arts Quartet Archives
- Duchen, Jessica (December, 2006). "Sweet Smell of Success". The Strad magazine, pp. 36–40.