Borromeo String Quartet

Biography

Considered “Simply the best there is” by the Boston Globe, the critically acclaimed Borromeo String Quartet is one of the most sought after string quartets in the world. Audiences and critics alike champion their revealing explorations of Beethoven, Bartok, Schoenberg, Shostakovich, and Golijov, and their affinity for making even the most challenging contemporary repertoire approachable and enlightening has become a hallmark. They perform at the world’s most illustrious concert halls and music festivals, and continue long-standing residencies at the Isabella Stuart Gardner Museum (“one of the defining experiences of civilization in Boston” Boston Globe), the Tenri Cultural Institute (“one of New York’s best kept secrets” N.Y. Sun), Dai-Ichi Semei Hall in Tokyo, and the prestigious New England Conservatory of Music, where it has been the official Quartet-in-Residence for seventeen years.

In April 2007 the Borromeo Quartet was honored in New York with a prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant and in 2006 the Aaron Copland House honored the Borromeo’s commitment to performing contemporary music by creating the Borromeo Quartet Award, an annual initiative that will premiere the work of important young composers to audiences internationally. In 2003 they made classical music history with its pioneering record label, The Living Archive, making it is possible to order on-demand DVDs and CD’s of many of its concerts around the world, a feat only previously attempted in rock music. The series allows listeners the chance to explore in greater depth the music they have just heard in concert, as well as explore new and rarely performed works. The Borromeo has enjoyed collaborations with composers John Cage, Gyorgy Ligeti, Gunther Schuller, Osvaldo Golijov, Steve Mackey, John Harbison, Leon Kirchner, Jennifer Higdon, Derek Bermel, Lior Navok, and Lera Auerbach, among others. In 2000 they completed two seasons as a member of Lincoln Center’s Chamber Music Society Two and served as Ensemble-in-Residence for the 98-99 season of National Public Radio’s Performance Today. Awards include Lincoln Center’s Martin E. Segal Award in 2001, Chamber Music America’s Cleveland Quartet Award in 1998 and the Young Concert Artists International Auditions in 1991, as well as top prizes at the International String Quartet Competition in Evian, France in 1990. Additional information may be found at www.Borromeoquartet.com.