10/8/13: For Immediate Release Lesley Bannatyne 617-495-2791 [email protected] Internationally Acclaimed Parker Quartet Named Blodgett Quartet-in-Residence at Harvard University Music Department The Harvard University Department of Music is delighted to announce that the Parker Quartet will join the music department teaching faculty at Harvard University beginning in the fall of 2014. “Thanks to the Blodgett Artists-in-Residence Program, we have been fortunate to have had a Quartet-in-Residence for four weeks a year since 1985,” said Music Department chair Alexander Rehding. “However, the role of performance in the music department and the University has changed significantly, and this is the right time to bring professional musicians to campus as full-time residents. We are confident that the extended exposure to the string quartet will be highly beneficial to our students, especially our many talented undergraduate performers, allowing them to engage in the practice of chamber music on an unprecedented scale. We welcome the Parker Quartet to Harvard with immense pleasure.” The renowned Parker Quartet (Daniel Chong, Ying Xue, violin; Jessica Bodner, viola; Kee- Hyun Kim, cello) will, as part of the expanded Blodgett residency, present free concerts each year for the general public and recitals as part of the Dean’s Noontime concert series. They will teach, participate in class demonstrations, read and perform student compositions, and coach Harvard undergraduate chamber ensembles in weekly master classes for Harvard credit. The Parker Quartet’s full time presence in the program will allow for the expansion of the chamber music and performance study opportunities for students in the Harvard University Music Department. “With our relocation back to Boston and the invitation to join the faculty of Harvard University’s Department of Music, this is truly a special time for the quartet. The Blodgett Artists-in-Residence Program has a wonderful history of hosting established quartets and with its new expansion into a full-time position, we are honored to have the opportunity to share our artistry with the Harvard community. We look forward to our appointment with great excitement.” Formed in 2002, the Grammy Award-winning Parker Quartet has rapidly distinguished itself as one of the preeminent ensembles of its generation. The New York Times hailed the quartet as “something extraordinary,” and the Boston Globe acclaims their “pinpoint precision and spectacular sense of urgency.” The quartet began touring on the international circuit after winning the Concert Artists Guild Competition as well as the Grand Prix and Mozart Prize at the Bordeaux International String Quartet Competition in France. Chamber Music America awarded the quartet the prestigious biennial Cleveland Quartet Award for the 2009- 2011 seasons. Performance highlights from recent seasons include appearances at Carnegie Hall, 92nd Street Y, Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, Library of Congress, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Wigmore Hall in London, Musikverein in Vienna, Monte Carlo Spring Festival, Seoul Arts Center, Rockport Chamber Music Festival, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festspiele in Germany, and San Miguel de Allende Festival in Mexico. The quartet recently collaborated with artists including Kim Kashkashian, Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, Anne- Marie McDermott, Shai Wosner, Jörg Widmann, and Claron McFaddon. In 2012 the Parker Quartet was the recipient of a Chamber Music America commissioning grant, enabling the ensemble to commission and premiere Capriccio, an hour-length work by American composer Jeremy Gill. This upcoming season includes return engagements to Carnegie Hall, Library of Congress, and Monte Carlo Spring Festival, performances of the Beethoven quartets on the Slee Series in Buffalo, and collaborations with Kikuei Ikeda of the now retired Tokyo String Quartet. Successful early concert touring in Europe helped the quartet forge a relationship with Zig- Zag Territoires, which released their debut commercial recording of Bartók’s String Quartets Nos. 2 and 5 in July 2007. The disc earned high praise from numerous critics, including 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.” The quartet’s second recording, of György Ligeti’s complete works for string quartet was released on Naxos in December 2009 to critical acclaim. This recording won the 2011 Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music Performance. Currently based in Boston, the Parker Quartet holds teaching and performance residencies at the University of South Carolina and the University of St. Thomas. From 2008 to 2013, the quartet spent much of its time in St. Paul, MN, where they served as Quartet-in-Residence with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra (2008-2010), were the first-ever Artists-in-Residence with Minnesota Public Radio (2009-2010), and visiting artists at the University of Minnesota (2011-2012). The Parker Quartet’s members hold graduate degrees in performance and chamber music from the New England Conservatory of Music and were part of the New England Conservatory’s prestigious Professional String Quartet Training Program from 2006- 2008. Some of their most influential mentors include the Cleveland Quartet, Kim Kashkashian, György Kurtág, and Rainer Schmidt. The Parker Quartet will begin their residency at Harvard in the fall of 2014 through the Blodgett Artist-in-Residence program, made possible through a gift from Mr. and Mrs. John W. Blodgett, Jr. The program is now in its 29th year. www.parkerquartet.com PARKER QUARTET May 3, 2013 The Parker Quartet Appoints Ying Xue as Second Violinist It is with great pleasure that the PARKER QUARTET announces the appointment of Ying Xue as the quartet's second violinist beginning May 1, 2013. An accomplished chamber musician and soloist, Ms. Xue has played and collaborated with many of the world's great orchestras and artists. A fellow graduate of the New England Conservatory of Music, Ms. Xue received graduate degrees in performance and chamber music under the tutelage of Donald Weilerstein and Miriam Fried. She returns to the United States following continued studies at the Musikhochschule Lübeck with Heime Müller. With her appointment to the Parker Quartet, Ms. Xue will join the ensemble's extensive 2013-14 touring season as well as their Quartet-in-Residence position at the University of South Carolina School of Music. Ms. Xue replaces violinist Karen Kim, who retired from the quartet in February after ten years to pursue other artistic endeavors. Of this appointment Ms. Xue states: "It has been my dream for a very long time to dedicate myself to a string quartet. Now, not only do I have the privilege to join the Parker Quartet, but more importantly, join three beautiful and inspiring musicians on a musical journey for many years. I could not be more thrilled." Parker Quartet cellist, Kee-Hyun Kim, states: "Immediately upon reading the first few notes of a simple Bach Chorale together with Ying, I felt the three of us heave a collective sigh of relief and delight. Without any words being spoken, she was able to mold and integrate herself into our collective sound, blending herself seamlessly as well as asserting her individual presence! Her sound, her artistry and her vision was so aligned with ours, and we all knew from that first instant that she was the one. Daniel, Jessica and I are incredibly excited to embark on this new chapter of the quartet with Ying, and we look forward to many years of inspired music-making." YING XUE An accomplished and versatile soloist and chamber musician Ying Xue has won accolades on the competition stage around the world. She is the second prizewinner of the 2011 International Mozart Competition Salzburg, first prizewinner of the 2007 Corpus Christi Competition, and has won medals at the Corpus Christi, Irving M. Klein International and New England Conservatory Concerto competitions among others. As a soloist, she has appeared with the Camerata Salzburg, Nanning Symphony Orchestra, Jinfan Symphony Orchestra, and NEC Symphony Orchestra. A passionate chamber musician, Ms. Xue has collaborated with artists of international acclaim including Donald Weilerstein, András Schiff, Pamela Frank, Kim Kashkashian, and Gidon Kremer among many others. She has been engaged by the Kronberg Chamber Music, Caramoor, Ravinia and Yellow Barn Music festivals, as well as the Winter Chamber Festival in Israel. Born in Urumqi, China, Ms. Xue began her violin studies at age 4. Ms. Xue received graduate degrees in performance and chamber music under the tutelage of Donald Weilerstein and Miriam Fried as the recipient of the Irene M. Stare Presidential Scholarship at the New England Conservatory. In 2012 Ms. Xue moved to Germany to continue her musical studies with Heime Müller at the Musikhochschule Lübeck. THE PARKER QUARTET Hailed by The New York Times as “something extraordinary” and by the Boston Globe for their “virtuosic, utterly assured...assiduously cultivated blend of sound,” the GRAMMY Award-winning Parker Quartet has distinguished itself Parker Quartet May 3, 2013 page 2 of 2 as one of the preeminent ensembles of its generation. The quartet began its professional touring career in 2002 and garnered international acclaim in 2005, winning the Concert Artists Guild Competition as well as the Grand Prix and Mozart Prize at the Bordeaux International String Quartet Competition