Adam Barnett-Hart, violin | Brendan Speltz, violin | Pierre Lapointe, viola | Brook Speltz, cello

The Escher String Quartet has received acclaim for its profound musical insight and rare tonal beauty. A former BBC New Generation Artist and recipient of the Avery Fisher Career Grant, the quartet has performed at the BBC Proms at Cadogan Hall and is a regular guest at Wigmore Hall. In its hometown of New York, the ensemble serves as season artists of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.

The Escher Quartet has made a distinctive impression throughout Europe, with recent debuts including the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Berlin Konzerthaus and London’s Kings Place, as well as numerous international festivals. Alongside its growing European profile, the Escher Quartet continues to flourish in its home country, performing at the Aspen Music Festival, Bravo! Vail, Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, Music@Menlo, and the Ravinia and Caramoor festivals. Additionally, the quartet has held faculty positions at Southern Methodist University and the University of Akron, OH.

The Escher’s most recent recording, the complete quartets of Ives and Barber, was met with equal excitement. Other recordings have included quartets of Mendelssohn, Dvorák, Borodin and Tchaikovsky, the complete Zemlinsky String Quartets in two volumes as well as DANCE, an album of quintets with guitarist Jason Vieaux.

Within months of its inception in 2005, the ensemble came to the attention of key musical figures worldwide. Championed by the Emerson Quartet, the Escher Quartet was invited by both Pinchas Zukerman and Itzhak Perlman to be Quartet-in-Residence at each artist’s summer festival: the Young Artists Program at Canada’s National Arts Centre and the Perlman Chamber Music Program.

The Escher Quartet takes its name from the Dutch graphic artist M.C. Escher, inspired by Escher’s method of interplay between individual components working together to form a whole.