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Repertoire
Korngold: String Quartet in No. 3 in D Major, Op. 34 (1945)
Korngold: Piano Quintet in E Major, Op. 15 (1921)

About the Artists

Recognized for its virtuosity, exuberant performance style, and daring repertory choices, the Pacifica Quartet has achieved international recognition over the past 30 years as one of the finest chamber ensembles performing today, establishing itself as the embodiment of the ideal American quartet sound. Named faculty string quartet-in-residence at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music in 2012, Pacifica was previously quartet-in-residence at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and most recently received its second Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music Performance for Contemporary Voices (2020), featuring the works of three Pulitzer Prize–winning women. In 2017, the Quartet was appointed to lead the Center for Advanced Quartet Studies at the Aspen Music Festival and School. Formed in 1994, the Pacifica Quartet quickly won chamber music’s top competitions, including the 1998 Naumburg Chamber Music Award. In 2002, the ensemble was honored with Chamber Music America’s Cleveland Quartet Award and the appointment to Lincoln Center’s The Bowers Program, and in 2006 was awarded a prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant. The Pacifica Quartet has proven itself the preeminent interpreter of string quartet cycles, having given highly acclaimed performances of the complete Carter, Mendelssohn, Beethoven and Shostakovich cycles in numerous cities across the United States, in Australia, and in Tokyo and London. An ardent advocate of contemporary music, Pacifica commissions and performs many new works, including compositions by Keeril Makan, Julia Wolfe, and Shulamit Ran. The Quartet has recorded the Carter cycle (Naxos) and the Shostakovich cycle (Cedille Records) to rave reviews. Other recording projects include Leo Ornstein’s piano quintet with Marc-André Hamelin, the Brahms piano quintet with Jacobs Distinguished Professor Menahem Pressler, and the Brahms and Mozart clarinet quintets with Anthony McGill. Prior to its appointment to the Jacobs School, Pacifica was on the faculty of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign for 9 years and served as resident performing artists at the University of Chicago for 17 years. Visit pacificaquartet.com for more information.

One of the most sought-after soloists and chamber music collaborators of his generation, Orion Weiss is widely regarded as a brilliant pianist (The New York Times) with powerful technique and exceptional insight (The Washington Post). He has dazzled audiences with his passionate, lush sound and performed with dozens of orchestras in North America including the Chicago Symphony, Boston Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and New York Philharmonic. Highlights of Weiss’s 2023-24 season include concerts with the Chicago and National symphony orchestras. He performs alongside violinist Augustin Hadelich in concerts at the Kennedy Center and Toronto’s Royal Conservatory of Music. He also appears in a May 2024 performance at Carnegie Hall. Recent seasons have seen Weiss in performances for the Lucerne Festival, Denver Friends of Chamber Music, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, 92^nd Street Y, and at the Aspen, Bard, Ravinia, and Grand Teton summer festivals. Other highlights include a performance of Beethoven’s Triple Concerto with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, a live-stream with the Minnesota Orchestra, the release of his recording of Christopher Rouse’s Seeing, the first two installments of his Arc recital trilogy, a recording of Korngold’s left-hand concerto and other works with Leon Botstein and TON, and recordings of Gershwin’s complete works for piano and orchestra with the Buffalo Philharmonic and JoAnn Falletta. Weiss can be heard on the Naxos, Telos, Bridge, First Hand, Yarlung, and Artek labels. Known for his affinity for chamber music, Weiss performs regularly with violinists Augustin Hadelich, William Hagenand James Ehnes; pianists Michael Brown and Shai Wosner; cellist Julie Albers; and the Ariel, Parker, and Pacifica Quartets. A native of Ohio, Weiss attended the Cleveland Institute of Music. Weiss’s list of awards includes the Classical Recording Foundation’s Young Artist of the Year, Gilmore Young Artist Award, an Avery Fisher Career Grant, and more. In 2004, he graduated from The Juilliard School, where he studied with Emanuel Ax.