Recognized for its virtuosity, exuberant performance style, and often daring repertory choices, the Pacifica Quartet has carved out a compelling musical  path.  Formed in 1994, the ensemble quickly won top prizes in several leading international competitions, including the 1998 Naumburg Chamber Music Award.  The Quartet was subsequently honored in 2002 with Chamber Music America’s Cleveland Quartet Award and appointment to The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s CMS Two program for gifted young musicians.  In May 2006, the Pacifica Quartet became only the second chamber music ensemble to be awarded a prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant.

Recently the Pacifica's recording of Elliott Carter's String Quartets Nos. 1&5 won the 2009 Grammy Award for "Best Chamber Music Performance", and the Quartet was honored as Musical America’s 2009 Ensemble of the Year. Other highlights include complete Beethoven quartet cycles in Chicago, New York City, California, and Wisconsin; Mendelssohn quartet cycles in New York and Pittsburgh; and concert performances in Europe, Japan, and Australia. An ardent advocate of contemporary music, the Pacifica commissions and performs as many as eight new works a year and has championed American composer Elliott Carter’s five string quartets in single-concert performances on prestigious stages in the U.S., Europe, and Japan. These groundbreaking concerts, which the Pacifica pioneered in 2002, are still unique in the chamber music world.

The members of the Pacifica Quartet live in Urbana-Champaign, Illinois, where they were appointed to the faculty of the University of Illinois in 2004 and serve as Faculty Quartet in Residence. The Quartet members also serve as resident performing artists at the University of Chicago and the Longy School of Music in Boston.

For more information about the Pacifica Quartet, please visit: www.pacificaquartet.com