FINE ARTS QUARTET

The Fine Arts Quartet, now celebrating its 65th anniversary, 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 artists, violinists Ralph Evans and Efim Boico, and cellist Wolfgang Laufer, had performed together for nearly 30 years, up to the time of Laufer’s untimely death on June 8, 2011. Violist Nicolò Eugelmi joined the Quartet in 2009. 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 has recorded more than 200 works, over 80 of them with Evans, Boico, and Laufer. Their latest releases on Naxos include: the world première recording of Efrem Zimbalist’s Quartet in its 1959 revised edition, the world première digital recording of Eugène Ysaÿe’s long-lost masterpiece for quartet and string orchestra, “Harmonies du Soir”; Fritz Kreisler’s String Quartet, the two Saint-Saëns String Quartets, three Beethoven String Quintets; the Franck String Quartet and Piano Quintet; Fauré Piano Quintets; complete Bruckner chamber music; complete Mendelssohn String Quintets; “Four American Quartets” by Antheil, Herrmann, Glass, Evans; complete Schumann Quartets; and the Glazunov String Quintet and Novelettes.

The quartet’s recent recordings have received many distinctions. Their Fauré Quintets CD on Naxos with pianist Cristina Ortiz was singled out by the 2011 Gramophone Classical Music Guide as a “Gramophone award-winner and recording of legendary status”, and was among the recordings for which musical producer Steven Epstein won a 2009 Grammy^® Award (“Producer of the Year, Classical”). The Quartet’s Franck CD was named “Editor’s Choice” by Gramophone magazine inFebruary 2010, and their Glazunov, Mendelssohn, and Fauré CD’s were each named a “Recording of the Year” by Musicweb International (2007–2009). In addition, their “Four American Quartets” album was designated a “BBC Music Magazine Choice” in 2008, their Schumann CD was named “one of the very finest chamber music recordings of the year” by the American Record Guide in 2007, and their Mozart Quintets SACD box set was named a “Critic’s Choice 2003” by the American Record Guide. Nearly all of the Quartet’s Naxos CDs were selected for Grammy^® Awards entry lists in the “Best Classical Album” and/or “Best Chamber Music Performance” categories. 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 Fine Arts Quartet, including a complete discography, please visit: www.fineartsquartet.org.

See Naxos interview with Ralph Evans of Fine Arts Quartet

The Finer Arts – Ralph Evans talks to Jeremy Siepmann

Members of the Fine Arts Quartet (left–right): Ralph Evans (violin I), Efim Boico (violin II), Wolfgang Laufer (cello), Nicolò Eugelmi (viola) Photo: Angelo Tortorella (with modification by Vivian Li) Photo courtesy of Angelo Tortorella

Albums featuring this artist are available for download from ClassicsOnline.com

Role: Ensemble
Album Title	Catalogue No	Work Category