VC Artist Calidore String Quartet Plays Beethoven's Late Quartets
Released on Signum Classics, the three-disc set is the first installment in the quartet's full Beethoven cycle
VC Artist Calidore Quartet has recently released "Beethoven: The Late Quartets," a three-disc set that covers Quartets Nos. 12-16 — including the Grosse Fuge, Op. 133.
The release is the first in a mammoth three-year project that will see the ensemble record a full Beethoven cycle for Signum Classics. The group is not new to the Beethoven quartets, however: they have performed all 16 works in a tour of Los Angeles, Toronto, Buffalo, and the University of Delaware, in celebration of the composer's 250th anniversary.
To listen and purchase the album, click here.
Formed while the players were all studying at The Colburn School in Los Angeles, the Calidore Quartet is made up of Jeffrey Myers (violin), Ryan Meehan (violin), Jeremy Berry (viola), and Estelle Choi (cello). They have released two other albums: BABEL (2020) and Resilience (2018).
"The thing that makes the Beethoven quartets remarkable is that one’s perspective of the quartets is constantly changing, depending on our surroundings and the world events that are taking place around us," members of the quartet told The Violin Channel.
"One thing that remains constant is the human emotions that we share with Beethoven, even though we are centuries removed from one another," they added. "Our interpretations today are a snapshot of what the quartets mean to us in this moment, and it will be an interesting journey to see where our perspective takes us in the future."
"We hope to offer our audience a unique perspective on these monumental works which is both relevant and reflective of our times and also pays homage to our mentors that have paved this path for us to travel."
Recipients of an Avery Fisher Career Grant and the Lincoln Center Emerging Artist Award, the Calidore String Quartet first made international headlines as the $100,000 Grand Prize-winning ensemble at the 2016 M-Prize International Chamber Music Competition.
The group's members are currently Co-Directors of the University of Delaware's (UD) Graduate String Quartet Fellowship program, which is open to pre-formed string quartets whose members do not already hold a Master of Music in Performance.
january 2025