Attacca Quartet
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| Attacca Quartet | |
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| Name | Attacca Quartet |
| Origin | New York City |
| Genre | Classical music, Contemporary classical |
| Years active | 2003–present |
| Labels | New Amsterdam Records, Deutsche Grammophon |
| Associated acts | Catalyst Quartet, Kronos Quartet, American Contemporary Music Ensemble |
Attacca Quartet is an American string quartet founded in 2003 in New York City. The ensemble is noted for championing contemporary composers and for performances at venues such as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and international festivals including the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and the donaueschinger musiktage. The group combines a repertoire spanning Ludwig van Beethoven, Franz Schubert, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart with commissions by living composers like Caroline Shaw, David Lang, and Anna Clyne.
History
Formed by graduates of the Juilliard School and the Manhattan School of Music, the quartet emerged from collaborations with ensembles such as the New York Philharmonic and chamber residencies at institutions including the Aspen Music Festival and School and the Tanglewood Music Center. Early appearances included performances at the Carnegie Hall Weill Recital Hall and tours organized by the American Composers Forum and the Chamber Music America network. Over the years the ensemble has toured in North America, Europe, and Asia, performing at venues like Wigmore Hall, Konzerthaus Berlin, and the Tokyo Opera City Concert Hall while participating in festivals such as Cheltenham Music Festival and Midem.
Members
Current and former personnel have included alumni of the Curtis Institute of Music, New England Conservatory, and the Royal Academy of Music. Musicians in the quartet have collaborated with artists from the Kronos Quartet, Julliard Quartet, and soloists like Lang Lang and Yo-Yo Ma. Members have held teaching positions at institutions such as Columbia University, the Yale School of Music, and the Royal College of Music and have served on juries for competitions including the Naumburg Competition and the Queen Elisabeth Competition.
Repertoire and premieres
The quartet maintains a dual focus on canonical works—performing cycles of Beethoven String Quartets, Bartók String Quartets, and Shostakovich String Quartets—and on new commissions by composers associated with ensembles such as Bang on a Can, Nonesuch Records artists, and the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players. Premieres include works by Caroline Shaw, David Lang, Steve Reich, Terry Riley, Anna Clyne, Missy Mazzoli, John Adams, Julia Wolfe, Thomas Adès, George Crumb, Philip Glass, Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, Jennifer Higdon, Oliver Knussen, George Benjamin, Lera Auerbach, Frederic Rzewski, Michael Gordon, Péter Eötvös, Kaija Saariaho, Bent Sorensen, James MacMillan, Arvo Pärt, Iannis Xenakis, György Ligeti, Erkki-Sven Tüür, Einojuhani Rautavaara, John Corigliano, Elliott Carter, Samuel Barber, Paul Hindemith, Antonín Dvořák, Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel, Sergei Prokofiev, Dmitri Shostakovich, Igor Stravinsky, Alexander Scriabin, Ned Rorem, Earl Kim, Morton Feldman, Alban Berg, Arnold Schoenberg, Hector Berlioz, Gustav Mahler, Richard Strauss, Franz Schubert, Johannes Brahms, Felix Mendelssohn, Pablo Casals, Zoltán Kodály, Ernest Bloch, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Ravel Ensemble.
Recordings
The quartet's discography includes releases on New Amsterdam Records and Deutsche Grammophon and collaborations with labels such as Nonesuch Records and ECM Records. Albums feature complete cycles of Beethoven and contemporary programs alongside recordings of works by Caroline Shaw, David Lang, Missy Mazzoli, Steve Reich, and Julia Wolfe. Their recordings have been broadcast on BBC Radio 3, NPR, WQXR, and platforms like Medici.tv and have been reviewed in publications including The New York Times, The Guardian, Gramophone (magazine), The Strad, and BBC Music Magazine.
Awards and recognition
The ensemble has received prizes from organizations such as Chamber Music America, the Naumburg Foundation, and has been featured on award lists from Grammy Awards voters and critics at The New Yorker. They have been named ensemble-in-residence at institutions including the University of Michigan, the California Institute of the Arts, and the Royal Conservatory of Music and have received commissions and fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the Fromm Music Foundation.
Educational and outreach activities
The quartet maintains residency and teaching programs at conservatories and universities such as the Juilliard School, Peabody Institute, Curtis Institute of Music, and the Royal Northern College of Music, and participates in workshops with youth orchestras including the New York Youth Symphony and the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain. Outreach includes collaborations with organizations like El Sistema, community engagement through Carnegie Hall's Weill Music Institute, and cross-genre projects with artists from hip hop producers and jazz ensembles, presenting programs at venues such as the Kennedy Center and the Barbican Centre.