Performer Biography

“Passion, precision, warmth, a gold blend: these are the trademarks of this excellent Israeli string quartet.” Such was the New York Times’ impression of the Jerusalem Quartet. Since the ensemble’s founding in 1993 and subsequent 1996 debut, the four Israeli musicians have embarked on a journey of growth and maturation. This experience has resulted in a wide repertoire and stunning depth of expression, which carries on the string quartet tradition in a unique manner. The ensemble has found its core in a warm, full, human sound and an egalitarian balance between high and low voices. This approach allows the Quartet to maintain a healthy relationship between individual expression and a transparent and respectful presentation of the composer’s work. It is also the drive and motivation for the continuing refinement of its interpretations of the classical repertoire as well as exploration of new epochs.

The Jerusalem Quartet is a regular and beloved guest on the world’s great concert stages. Recent appearances include a Beethoven quartet cycle at Wigmore Hall in London; a Bartok cycle at the Salzburg Festival; their annual String Quartet seminar in Crans Montana Switzerland, and a residency at the Jerusalem Academy of Music.

Highlights of the upcoming 2023–24 season include tours of Sweden, Great Britain, Germany, Italy, and Switzerland, and appearances in the quartet Biennales in Paris, Lisbon, and Amsterdam. Alongside the quartet’s regular programs, they will bring back the “Yiddish Cabaret”, and will perform a Bartok Cycle in the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg. Their upcoming North American tours include concerts in Montreal, Pittsburgh, Providence, Portland (Maine), Houston, Tucson, Palm Beach, Miami, New Orleans, Denver, Los Angeles, Carmel, New York, and other locations. In Ann Arbor, they will be joined by pianist Inon Barnaton.

The Jerusalem Quartet’s recordings have been honored with numerous awards, including the Diapason d’Or and the BBC Music Magazine Award for chamber music. They have recorded the string quartets of Haydn; Schubert’s “Death and the Maiden”; an album of Dvorak’s String Quintet Op. 97 and Sextet Op. 48, and the quartets by Ravel and Debussy.

In 2019, the Quartet released a unique album exploring Jewish music in Central Europe between the wars and its far-reaching influence, featuring a collection of Yiddish Cabaret songs from 1920s Warsaw, as well as works by Schulhoff and Korngold. The second installment of their Bartok quartet recording was released in 2020.