Isaac Stern was an American violinist.
Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small number of performers, with one performer to a part. However, by convention, it usually does not include solo instrument performances.
The Takács Quartet is a string quartet founded in Budapest, Hungary, and now based in Boulder, Colorado, United States.
The Belcea Quartet is a string quartet, formed in 1994, under the leadership of violinist Corina Belcea.
The Emerson String Quartet, also known as the Emerson Quartet, is an American string quartet that was initially formed as a student group at the Juilliard School in 1976. It was named for American poet and philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson and began touring professionally in 1976. The ensemble taught in residence at The Hartt School in the 1980s and is currently (2022) the quartet in residence at Stony Brook University. Both of the founding violinists studied with Oscar Shumsky at Juilliard, and the two alternated as first and second violinists for the group. The Emerson Quartet was one of the first such ensembles with the two violinists alternating chairs.
The Lindsay String Quartet was a British string quartet from 1965 to 2005.
The Paganini Quartet was an American string quartet founded by cellist Robert Maas and violinist Henri Temianka in 1946. The quartet drew its name from the fact that all four of its instruments, made by Antonio Stradivari (1644–1737), had once been owned by the great Italian violinist and composer Niccolo Paganini (1782–1840).
Joel Krosnick is an American cellist who has performed as a soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician throughout the world for over 40 years. As a member of the Juilliard String Quartet from 1974 to 2016, he performed the great quartet literature throughout North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia.
Josef Suk was a Czech violinist, violist, chamber musician and conductor. In his home country he carried the title of National Artist.
Shmuel Ashkenasi is an Israeli violinist and teacher.
The LaSalle Quartet was a string quartet active from 1946 to 1987. It was founded by first violinist Walter Levin. The LaSalle's name is attributed to an apartment on LaSalle Street in Manhattan, where some of its members lived during the quartet's inception. The quartet played on a donated set of Amati instruments.
The Végh Quartet was a Hungarian string quartet founded in 1940 and led by its first violinist Sándor Végh for 40 years. The quartet was based in Budapest until it departed Hungary in 1946. It is particularly known for its recordings of the Beethoven and Bartók cycles. The quartet disbanded in 1980.
The New Hungarian Quartet was a string quartet founded by Andor Toth in 1972 at Oberlin Conservatory of Music, where members were on the faculty. It is separate from the well-known Hungarian Quartet, though the violist in both groups was the same. From 1975 until 1979 the quartet was the first faculty quartet-in-residence at the Taos School of Music in Taos, New Mexico.
David Finckel is an American cellist and influential figure in the classical music world. The cellist for the Emerson String Quartet from 1979 to 2013, Finckel is currently the co-artistic director of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center in New York, co-founder of the independent record label ArtistLed, co-artistic director and co-founder of Music@Menlo in Silicon Valley, producer of Cello Talks, professor of cello at the Juilliard School, and visiting professor of music at Stony Brook University.
The Cuarteto Casals is a Spanish string quartet based at l'Auditori in Barcelona, where all four members reside and teach at the Escola Superior de Musica de Catalunya.
Jane Austin Coop is a Canadian pianist and music pedagogue. An internationally recognized concert pianist, she has appeared as a recitalist and as a soloist with major symphony orchestras throughout the world. She has performed at such venues as the Bolshoi Hall in St. Petersburg, the Kennedy Center, Alice Tully Hall, Roy Thomson Hall, the Hong Kong Cultural Centre, the Beijing Concert Hall, and the Salle Gaveau in Paris. From 1980 to 2012 she taught on the faculty of the University of British Columbia’s School of Music in Vancouver. In December 2012, she was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada. In May, 2019 she was appointed to the Order of British Columbia (O.B.C.)
The Jasper String Quartet is a professional string quartet based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Currently the Ensemble in Residence at Temple University's Center for Gifted Young Musicians, the quartet was previously the Quartet in Residence at Oberlin Conservatory. Formed in 2004 while its members were in school at Oberlin Conservatory, the quartet completed string quartet master's programs at Rice University (2006–2008) and Yale University (2008–2010). The group's primary mentors are James Dunham, Norman Fischer and the Tokyo String Quartet. In 2010, they joined the roster of Astral Artists.
The Schumann Quartet is a German string quartet founded in Cologne in 2007, consisting of the three brothers Erik Schumann (violin), Ken Schumann (violin) and Mark Schumann (violoncello) as well as the viola player Veit Hertenstein. It is not named after the composer Robert Schumann, but after the three Schumann brothers.
Ariel Lanyi is an Israeli classical pianist.
The Shostakovich Quartet was a string quartet formed in September 1966 at the Moscow Conservatory, and which continued to perform for some 47 years until the start of 2014.
