About Pacifica Quartet

With a career spanning three decades, the multiple GRAMMY® Award-winning Pacifica Quartet has achieved international recognition as one of the finest chamber ensembles performing today. Known for delivering performances that are “engrossing, characterful…with a luminescent tranquillity [and] spine-tingling intensity” (The New York Times), the Quartet is celebrated for its virtuosity, exuberant performance style, and fearless repertory choices. Its sound, distinguished by “warmth of phrasing, dynamic control and superbly coordinated ensemble balance” (Gramophone Magazine), has solidified the ensemble as one of the most essential voices in American chamber music. 

The Pacifica Quartet appears this season across North America and abroad, including a world premiere tour of their newest program, American Portraits, with Oscar-nominated film icon Sigourney Weaver at the 92nd Street Y in New York; Washington Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.; and Wigmore Hall in London. American Portraits is centered on two world-premiere commissions for narrator and string quartet honoring visionaries who helped shape our nation – champion of justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is celebrated by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Jennifer Higdon, and environmental trailblazer Rachel Carson by GRAMMY® nominee Gabriela Lena Frank. The 2025-2026 season also brings the Pacifica Quartet to ArtPower at the University of California, San Diego; the Oneppo Chamber Music Series at Yale University; the Calgary Pro Musica Society; Friends of Music; Hillsdale College; Kutztown University Presents; the Eureka Chamber Music Series; and the Linton Chamber Music Series. 

Formed in 1994, the Pacifica Quartet quickly rose to prominence, winning chamber music’s top competitions, including the 1998 Naumburg Chamber Music Award. In 2002, the ensemble received Chamber Music America’s Cleveland Quartet Award and was named to Lincoln Center’s Bowers Program (formerly CMS Two). Four years later, it received the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant, affirming its position among the foremost American quartets. With its powerful energy and captivating, cohesive sound, the Pacifica has established itself as the embodiment of the contemporary American string quartet sound.  

An ardent advocate for living composers, the Pacifica Quartet has commissioned and premiered works by Keeril Makan, Julia Wolfe, and Shulamit Ran. Ran’s Glitter, Doom, Shards, Memory – commissioned in partnership with the Music Accord consortium, Wigmore Hall, and Tokyo’s Suntory Hall – received its New York premiere with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. In 2024, the Quartet premiered James Lee III’s Double Standard – commissioned by Carnegie Hall and Shriver Hall Concert Series – with soprano Karen Slack. Based on a poem by Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, the work was widely acclaimed for its vivid narrative power, with one critic describing the performance’s “spine-tingling intensity” (The New York Times). 

The Pacifica Quartet has proven itself to be the preeminent interpreter of string quartet cycles, harnessing the group’s singular focus and incredible stamina to portray each composer’s evolution, often over the course of just a few days. Its acclaimed presentations have included highly praised performances of the complete Carter cycle in San Francisco, New York, Chicago, and Houston; the Mendelssohn cycle in Napa, Australia, New York, and Pittsburgh; the monumental Shostakovich cycle in Chicago, New York, Montreal, and London; and the Beethoven cycle in New York, Denver, St. Paul, Chicago, Napa, and Tokyo, where the Quartet gave an unprecedented presentation of five concerts in three days at Suntory Hall. 

The ensemble’s acclaimed discography reflects its adventurous spirit. Its GRAMMY® Award-winning recordings of Elliott Carter’s Quartets Nos. 1-5 on Naxos and the complete Shostakovich cycle on Cedille Records – praised by The Telegraph as “nothing short of phenomenal” – are now reference points for those repertoires. Other notable collaborations include Leo Ornstein’s Piano Quintet with Marc-André Hamelin, the Brahms Piano Quintet with Menahem Pressler, and the Brahms and Mozart Clarinet Quintets with Anthony McGill. Their most recent GRAMMY®-winning album, Contemporary Voices (Cedille Records), showcases works by Shulamit Ran, Jennifer Higdon, and Ellen Taaffe Zwilich; the Chicago Tribune named it among the “Best Classical Recordings of 2020,” praising the Quartet’s “unmistakable and apt ferocity.” A second recording with Anthony McGill, American Stories, featured world premiere recordings by Richard Danielpour, James Lee III, and Ben Shirley, as well as a piece by Valerie Coleman, and was nominated for a 2024 GRAMMY® Award.

Based in Bloomington, Indiana, the Pacifica Quartet has served as full-time faculty and Quartet-in-Residence at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music since 2012. They previously held residencies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (2003-2012), the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York (2009-2012), and the University of Chicago, where they served as resident performing artists for 17 years. 

November 2025 – Please do not edit without permission.

Simin Ganatra is a Grammy Award-winning violinist whose artistry combines luminous lyricism, intellectual depth, and expressive intensity. Praised as an “excellent and unique violinist” (The Strad) with a “miraculous sense of flow and otherworldly beauty” (St. Paul Pioneer Press), she has built a distinguished international career as a chamber musician, soloist, recording artist, and educator.

Ganatra is the founding first violinist of the internationally acclaimed Pacifica Quartet, an ensemble recognized worldwide for its virtuosity, daring programming, and deeply considered interpretations. With the Quartet, she has performed in the world’s foremost concert halls, including Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall, Kennedy Center, and Alice Tully Hall, as well as in major series throughout Europe, Asia, and Australia. The Quartet’s performances have been described as “nothing short of phenomenal” (The New York Times), celebrated for their refined ensemble, emotional breadth, and commanding technical finish.

A champion of both the core repertoire and contemporary voices, she has undertaken ambitious multi-season projects devoted to complete quartet cycles, earning critical acclaim for recordings that have become touchstones in the chamber music discography. The ensemble’s Grammy Award-winning recordings further solidified its reputation as one of the preeminent quartets of its generation.

Beyond the quartet stage, Ganatra has appeared as a soloist across North America and abroad and has collaborated with many of today’s leading artists, including Menahem Pressler and Yo-Yo Ma. The Washington Post has called her a “particular standout,” noting her compelling presence and expressive leadership. The Seattle Post‑Intelligencer praised her playing, writing that “Ganatra’s sound needs mentioning for its sheer beauty throughout,” comparing its effect to “the Aurora Borealis in a star‑filled sky.” Critics have consistently highlighted her clarity of line, tonal warmth, and interpretive voice, qualities that shine in both solo and chamber performances.

Deeply committed to education, Ganatra serves as Professor of Music (Violin) and Chair of the Department of Strings at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. In this leadership role, she helps guide one of the nation’s premier string programs while maintaining an active performing career. Her students have extensive solo and chamber music careers, professorships, and orchestra positions around the world. She has also served on the faculty of many music festivals worldwide, including the Aspen Music Festival, where she was a co-director of the Center for Advanced Quartet Studies, and the Bowdoin Music Festival.

Ganatra is frequently asked to adjudicate major competitions worldwide, including the Concours Musical International de Montréal – Violin 2026, the Wigmore Hall International String Quartet Competition, the Stulberg Competition, the Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition, and the Fischoff Competition.

Grammy-award winning violinist, Austin Hartman, has distinguished himself as a chamber musician, soloist and educator with performances throughout the United States and abroad that critics have hailed as a “top flight…masterclass in chamber music.” His performances have been featured in venues throughout North America, Europe, Asia and Africa that include Alice Tully Hall, Carnegie Hall, the Library of Congress, the Kennedy Center, Wigmore Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Center, and the Baroque Art Hall in Seoul. Since joining the Pacifica Quartet in 2017, Mr. Hartman has served on the faculty of the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University where the quartet is in-residence and on the faculty of the Aspen Music Festival where he co-directs the Center for Advanced Quartet Studies. He has collaborated with some of today’s most acclaimed artists that include members of the Cleveland, Shanghai, Tokyo, Vermeer, and Juilliard Quartets as well as Menahem Pressler, Sharon Isbin and Anthony McGill. For twelve seasons, he was the first violinist and founding member of the Biava Quartet an ensemble that garnered the 2003 Naumburg Chamber Music Award and captured top prizes at the Premio Borciani and London International String Quartet Competitions. As a soloist, Mr. Hartman has made numerous appearances with orchestras throughout his career that include two guest appearances with the Philadelphia Orchestra. In 1999, he was awarded the Gold Medal prize at the Stulberg International String Competition and since that time he has continued to present solo recitals around the world that included a number of humanitarian concert performances featured in China, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Taiwan and Zambia. His discography can be heard on the Albany, Naxos, and Cedille labels and in 2020, along with his colleagues, he won a Grammy for Best Chamber Music Performance of the Year. As an educator, Mr. Hartman has served on the faculty of numerous summer festivals including the Brevard Music Center, Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival, Heifetz International Music Institutes and the Luzerne Music Center. Prior to joining the Pacifica Quartet, Mr. Hartman was the Assistant Professor of Violin at the University of Indianapolis where he conducted the orchestra and opera theatre while also co-founding the Indianapolis Quartet. He has earned Artist Diplomas from both the Juilliard School and Yale School of Music as well as degrees from the New England Conservatory and Cleveland Institute of Music.

Learn more about Austin at austin-hartman.com.

Violist Mark Holloway is a Grammy-award winning chamber musician sought after in the United States and abroad. He is a member of the Pacifica Quartet, in-residence at the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University Bloomington, where he is a member of the faculty. An artist of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, he has appeared at prestigious festivals and series such as Marlboro, Music@Menlo, Ravinia, Caramoor, Banff, Taos, Music from Angel Fire, Mainly Mozart, Alpenglow, Plush, Whittington, Olympic, Concordia Chamber Players, Kon-Tiki, Bay Chamber Concerts, and with the Boston Chamber Music Society. Performances have taken him to such far-flung places as Chile and Greenland, and he plays regularly at chamber music festivals in France, Musikdorf Ernen in Switzerland, and at the International Musicians Seminar in Prussia Cove, England. He has frequently appeared as a guest with the New York Philharmonic, Orpheus, and the Metropolitan Opera orchestras. Mr. Holloway has been principal violist at Tanglewood and of the New York String Orchestra, and he has played as a guest with the Boston Symphony and guest principal of the American Symphony, Riverside Symphony, Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, Camerata Bern, American Ballet Theatre Orchestra, and St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. He has performed at Bargemusic, the 92nd Street Y, the Casals Festival in Puerto Rico, Tertulia, the Cartagena International Music Festival, with the Israeli Chamber Project, Chameleon Arts Ensemble, NOVUS NY, Emerald City Music, and on radio and television throughout the Americas and Europe, most recently a Live From Lincoln Center broadcast. Hailed as an "outstanding violist" by American Record Guide, and praised by Zürich's Neue Zürcher Zeitung for his "warmth and intimacy," he has recorded for the Marlboro Recording Society, CMS Live, Music@Menlo LIVE, Naxos, and Albany labels. Mr. Holloway was a student of Michelle LaCourse at Boston University, where he received his B.M. Summa cum laude, and he received his Diploma from the Curtis Institute of Music as a student of Michael Tree.

Brandon Vamos, a Grammy-award winning cellist, has performed solo and chamber music recitals both in the U.S. and  abroad  to critical  acclaim.  Called  a "first-rate cellist" by the Chicago Reader and praised for his "gutsy bravura" by the Chicago Tribune, Mr. Vamos has appeared as soloist with orchestras worldwide, including performances with the Taipei City Symphony, the Suwon Symphony in Seoul, the Samara Symphony in Russia, and the New Philharmonia Orchestra, and the Elgin Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Vamos has collaborated with many distinguished artists, including Paul Katz, Michael Tree, Yo-Yo Ma, Menahem Pressler, and the Emerson Quartet, and has recorded for Cedille, Naxos, and Cacophony Records. Awarded a Performer’s Certificate at the Eastman School of Music, where he earned a Bachelor’s of Music Degree as a student of Mr. Katz,  Mr. Vamos has also studied with distinguished artists such as Tanya Carey in Macomb, Illinois, and Aldo Parisot at Yale University, where he earned a Master of Music Degree. As a member of the Pacifica Quartet, with whom he performs over 90 concerts a year, he won a 2009 Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music Performance and the Cleveland Quartet Award, in addition to being named Musical America’s 2009 Ensemble of the Year.