Fine Arts Quartet
Ralph Evans, violin
Efim Boico, violin
Chauncy Patterson, viola
Wolfgang Laufer, cello

About the Fine Arts Quartet [top]

The Fine Arts Quartet is one of the most distinguished ensembles in chamber music today, with an illustrious history of performing success and an extensive recording legacy. Founded in Chicago in 1946, and based at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee since 1963, the Quartet is one of the elite few to have recorded and toured internationally for over half a century. Three of the Quartet's current artists, Ralph Evans, Efim Boico, and Wolfgang Laufer, have now been performing together for over 25 years. Chauncey Patterson has joined them as interim violist for the 2008-9 season, replacing Yuri Gandelsman who recently retired from the Quartet. Each season, the Fine Arts Quartet tours worldwide, with concerts in such musical centers as New York, London, Paris, Berlin, Rome, Madrid, Moscow, Tokyo, Beijing, Istanbul, Jerusalem, Mexico City, and Toronto.

The Quartet also continues to record actively, with over 65 works recorded since 1985. The latest releases include: the complete Mendelssohn String Quintets, named a "Recording of the Year 2008" by Musicweb International and selected for the 2009 Grammy Awards Entry list in the "Best Classical Album" category; Four American Quartets by Antheil, Herrmann, Glass, Evans - also selected for the 2009 Grammy Awards Entry list; the complete Bruckner chamber music; the complete Schumann Quartets, selected for the 2008 Grammy list and called "one of the very finest chamber music recordings of the year" by the American Record Guide in 2007; chamber music by Glazunov, named a "Recording of the Year 2007" by Musicweb International; the complete Dohnányi Quartets and Quintets; the complete early Beethoven Quartets in SACD format; and the complete Mozart String Quintets, in SACD, selected for the 2003 Grammy Entry List and designated a "Critic's Choice 2003" by the American Record Guide.

Releases planned for 2009 include the Fauré Piano Quintets; the Franck Quartet/Piano Quintet; three Beethoven String Quintets; and three Shostakovich quartets. Special recognition was 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.

The Quartet members have helped form and nurture many of today's top international young ensembles. They have 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 also 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. For more information on the Quartet, please visit fineartsquartet.org

The Fine Arts Quartet series is supported in part by a gift from the Fred Landis 1998 Revocable Trust in their honor and generous donations from the Lubar Family Foundation and several generous individuals.