The New York Times included Pacifica Quartet’s highly praised first volume CD of the string quartets of Dmitri Shostakovich and his contemporaries in its list of the year's 25 finest classical recordings. Times music critic Vivien Schweitzer writes that the Pacifica Quartet “offers electrifying interpretations” and “conveys every shade of Shostakovich’s extreme emotional palatte…” The Chicago Tribune also named 'The Soviet Experience, Vol. 1' one of the top 10 classical recordings of 2011. Music critic John von Rhein writes, "Listeners who thrilled to the Pacifica's intensely felt concert performances...last season can relive the experience..." This audiophile-quality recording on the Cedille Records label is the first of a planned four-volume set of the complete Shostakovich quartets and selected works of his contemporaries.
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In the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, the Pacifica Quartet will perform the complete Beethoven cycle in 2012. The often sold out concert season presented by the Denver Friends of Chamber Music is one of the most popular series in the country. The cycle will begin in April and the last notes will be played in the Fall.
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The Pacifica Quartet recently completed a highly successful project in Chicago where they performed the complete Shostakovich string quartets over ten concerts as part of the 'Soviet Arts Experience' festival. Billed as 'the hottest ticket in Chicago classical music' by the Chicago Tribune, the concerts received rave applause from critics throughout the city. The Pacifica has been invited to perform the monumental Shostakovich cycle in a six concert series at London's Wigmore Hall during the 2011-2012 season.
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The Pacifica Quartet continues as Quartet-in-Residence at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2011-2012. Known in recent years for its impassioned and insightful performances of string quartet cycles by major composers from Mendelssohn to Shostakovich to Elliott Carter, the ensemble will embark next on the complete Beethoven Cycle during the coming season at The Met.
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This June, the Pacifica Quartet was among the first international ensembles to return to Japan as the country slowly regains normalcy after the recent tsunami disaster. As part of a multi-city tour, the Pacifica presented the complete Beethoven string quartets in a three-day concert series at Suntory Hall, providing Japanese concert goers the unprecedented opportunity to hear the complete cycle in such a concise period.
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In the height of summer, the West Cork town of Bantry becomes one of the most important Festival destinations in Ireland with the West Cork Chamber Music Festival. The Pacifica Quartet traveled there to take part in an eight-day residency.
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In conjunction with the Pacifica Quartet's performances of Shostakovich's quartets at the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts this past season, the quartet participated in an interdisciplinary, two-day symposium called "Shostakovich: The Quartets in Context". In February 2011, leading Shostakovich scholars from around the country served as speakers and panelists. The event was presented by the University of Illinois' Slavic Languages and Literatures department with co-sponsorship from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences; the Illinois Program for Research in the Humanities; the School of Literatures, Cultures, and Linguistics; Krannert Center for the Performing Arts; the Russian, East European and Eurasian Center; the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures (the Anne M. Vekich Endowment Fund); the European Union Center; the Department of German Languages and Literatures; the Program on Jewish Culture and Society; the Program in Comparative and World Literature; and the School of Music.
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