YMF 2002
![[The Jerusalem Quartet]](images/older/jerusalem.jpg)
The Jerusalem Quartet has rapidly acquired the reputation of being one of the most interesting and dynamic quartets of their generation. Founded within the framework of the Young Musicians' Group of the Jerusalem Music Centre and the America-Israel Cultural Foundation in co-operation with the Conservatory of the Jerusalem Rubin Academy of Music and Dance, they gave their first concert in 1993 in Jerusalem.
Highlights of last season included a mini Beethoven series at the Louvre, appearances in Herkulessaal Munich, Dusseldorf Tonhalle, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Wigmore Hall, Brussels, Bolshoi Hall Moscow, Jerusalem, New York, Vancouver, Ravinia Festival's 'Rising Stars' series in Chicago, Mexico, Copenhagen, Seville and, at the end of the season, they undertook an extremely successful (and substantial) tour of Australia and New Zealand. They also came to the end of their two years as part of the BBC 'New Generation Artists' scheme, which culminated in an all-day gala event at the Wigmore Hall, in which they performed the Mendelssohn Octet with the Belcea Quartet. They have appeared frequently elsewhere in the UK and have also appeared in Manchester, Cheltenham, Sheffield, Abbotsholme and in the 2000 Chester and Brighton Festivals.
Future dates include concerts in Berlin Konzerthaus, Cologne Philharmonie, Zurich Tonhall, Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center Washington, Cleveland Museum of Contemporary Art, Jewish Museum in Berlin, Prague Spring, Schleswig Holstein, Ruhr and Ludwigsburg Festivals. They will also return to the Schubertiade in Hohenems and take part in a Bartók series at the Concertgebouw and a Haydn series in the Louvre.
Their recordings to date include a cover CD for the BBC Music Magazine of Beethoven, Haydn and Shostakovich and a debut CD for EMI of works by Shostakovich and Tchaikovsky which was released in spring 2001.
They are the recipients of a special prize as guests of the Forum Musical International de Normandie and won first prize at the Jerusalem Academy Chamber Music Competition and first prize (and prize for the best interpretation of twentieth-century music) at the Franz Schubert and the Music of the Music of the Twentieth Century Competition in Graz, Austria.
The Quartet has participated regularly in masterclasses and courses with such renowned musicians as Isaac Stern, Tabea Zimmerman, Gyorgy Kurtag, Michael Tree, Henry Meyer and members of the Amadeus Quartet.