Calder Quartet

CALDER QUARTET
BENJAMIN JACOBSON, violin
ANDREW BULBROOK, violin
JONATHAN MOERSCHEL, viola
ERIC BYERS, cello

The Calder Quartet continues to expand its unique array of projects by performing traditional quartet repertoire as well as partnering with innovative modern composers, emerging musicians, and performers across genres. The group was awarded the 2009 ASCAP Adventurous Programming Award in recognition of its exciting programming and collaborations. As quartet-in-residence at the Colburn Conservatory in Los Angeles, the Calder performs twice yearly at Zipper Hall. Season highlights include upcoming performances at the Big Ears Festival in Nashville, at New Haven's International Festival of Arts and Ideas, at Disney Hall as part of the Green Umbrella Series, and in concert with Grammy-winning pianist Gloria Cheng at the Orange County Performing Arts Center.

The quartet has expanded their collaborations with artists ranging from Terry Riley, Christopher Rouse and Thomas Ades to party rocker Andrew W.K. and indie rock bands The Airborne Toxic Event and Vampire Weekend. The Calder Quartet toured across North America with Andrew W.K. this past year and have been featured on KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic, the Late Show with David Letterman, the Tonight Show with Jay Leno, the Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien, Late Night with Jimmy Kimmel, and the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson.

The group has long-standing relationships with pivotal composers Terry Riley and Christopher Rouse. The Calder Quartet met Riley when they shared a concert as part of the Los Angeles Philharmonic's Minimalist Jukebox Festival in 2006, and continues to spend time studying his works and making personal recordings for Riley. The Calder is also the first quartet in two decades to have a work written for them by composer Christopher Rouse. Carnegie Hall, New Haven's International Festival of Arts and Ideas, La Jolla Music Society, and Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival have co-commissioned Rouse to write a new quartet for the Calder, which will premiere at the New Haven Festival of Arts and Ideas in June 2010. The quartet's album of Christopher Rouse works "Transfiguration" was released this year. About the album, Gramophone says, "Rouse's disquieting quartets are given powerful performances by the Calder."

In 2008, the Calder Quartet released its first album which featured the music of Thomas Ades, Mozart, and Ravel. They were able to expand their relationship with Thomas Ades by working directly with the composer on a performance of Arcadiana as part of the Green Umbrella Series at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in May 2008 as well as in concert with the composer in Stockholm at the Stockholm Philmarmonic Orchestra's Konserthuset in November 2009. Of that performance the Guardian UK said, "the Calder Quartet played the most insightful and moving performance of Thomas Ades's Arcadiana I've ever heard."

The Calder Quartet continues its relationship with the Carlsbad Music Festival, an alternative classical music festival, which the group co-founded with composer Matt McBane in 2004. The festival presents concerts in both San Diego and Los Angeles as well as outreach programs and a composers commissioning competition. Commissioned works for the Calder Quartet through the Carlsbad Music Festival include a piece by Tristan Perich incorporating 1-bit electronics and a piece by Christine Southworth using robotic instruments. At this time, there are eight original quartets commissioned for the Calder by the Carlsbad Music Festival.

The Calder Quartet has studied together at the University of Southern California's Thornton School of Music and the Colburn Conservatory of Music with Ronald Leonard, and at the Juilliard School, where it received the Artist Diploma in Chamber Music Studies as the Juilliard Graduate Resident String Quartet. They have also studied with Professor Eberhard Feltz at the Hochschule fűr Musik Hanns Eisler in Berlin, and collaborated with such notable performers as Menahem Pressler and Joseph Kalichstein. They have enjoyed performances in venues and festivals across the country and have been featured in some of the nation's top publications and radio stations.