Parker Quartet

Renowned for its dynamic interpretations and polished, expansive colors, the Parker Quartet has rapidly distinguished itself as one of the preeminent ensembles of its generation, dedicated purely to the sound and depth of their music.

Program

• String Quartet in F minor, Op. 95 by Ludwig van Beethoven
• “Motion” by Wang Lu
• “rondo relay” by Anthony Cheung
• “Cosmic Visitation” by Michi Wiancko
• String Quartet in B-flat major, Op. 130 by Ludwig van Beethoven

Parker Quartet Members

• Daniel Chong, violin
• Ken Hamao, violin
• Jessica Bodner, viola
• Kee-Hyn Kim, cello

Since its founding in 2002, the Quartet has appeared at some of the world’s most important venues. Recent performances and residencies around the United States and Europe include the 92nd Street Y in New York, Lincoln Center, the University of Chicago, Wigmore Hall, the University of South Carolina, the Schubert Club and Skidmore College. The Quartet is in its eighth year as the Blodgett Artists-in-Residence at Harvard University, serving as faculty members in the Department of Music.

The ensemble has been influential in projects ranging from the premiere of a new octet by Zosha di Castri alongside the JACK Quartet at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, to the premiere of Augusta Read Thomas’s Helix Spirals, a piece inspired by the Meselson-Stahl DNA replication discovery, to the “Schubert Effect” project in collaboration with pianist Shai Wosner at the 92NY. The Quartet continues to be a strong supporter of their friend and frequent collaborator Kim Kashkashian’s project “Music for Food” by participating in concerts throughout the United States for the benefit of various food banks and shelters.

The Quartet has been particularly focused on recording projects. They have recorded Dvořák's Viola Quintet for ECM Records, joined by Kim Kashkashian, as well as Kurtag's Six Moments Musicaux and Officium breve in memoriam. Under the auspices of the Monte Carlo Festival Printemps des Arts, they recorded a disc of three Beethoven quartets, released in the fall of 2019. The Quartet’s recording featuring Mendelssohn’s Quartets Op. 44, Nos. 1 and 3, was widely lauded by the international press.

Their debut commercial recording of Bartók’s String Quartets Nos. 2 and 5 for Zig-Zag Territoires won praise from Gramophone: “The Parkers’ Bartók spins the illusion of spontaneous improvisation… they have absorbed the language; they have the confidence to play freely with the music and the instinct to bring it off.” Their Naxos recording of György Ligeti’s complete works for string quartet won the 2011 Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music Performance.

Recent collaborations include those with acclaimed artists like violist Kim Kashkashian, featured on their recent Dvořák recording; violinist Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg; pianists Anne-Marie McDermott, Orion Weiss, Vijay Iyer, and Shai Wosner; members of the Silk Road Ensemble; Kikuei Ikeda of the Tokyo String Quartet; clarinetist and composer Jörg Widmann; and clarinetists Anthony McGill and Charles Neidich.

Founded and based in Boston, the Parker Quartet’s numerous honors include winning the Concert Artists Guild Competition, the Grand Prix and Mozart Prize at France’s Bordeaux International String Quartet Competition, and Chamber Music America’s prestigious Cleveland Quartet Award. Their artists-in-residencies include (currently) the University of South Carolina School of Music, University of St. Thomas (2012–2014), Quartet-in-Residence at the University of Minnesota (2011– 2012), Quartet-in-Residence with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra (2008-2010), and as the first-ever Artists-in-Residence with Minnesota Public Radio (2009-2010).

Quartet members hold graduate degrees in performance and chamber music from the New England Conservatory of Music and the Juilliard School. The Quartet also was part of the New England Conservatory’s prestigious Professional String Quartet Training Program from 2006 to 2008. Some of their most influential mentors include the original members of the Cleveland Quartet, as well as Kim Kashkashian, György Kurtág and Rainer Schmidt.