Pacifica Quartet To Return As Don Michel Randel Ensemble-in-Residence At The University Of Chicago

The multiple Grammy Award-winning Pacifica Quartet will return to the University of Chicago for a second appointment as the Don Michael Randel (DMR) Ensemble-in-Residence. The 2023-24 residency celebrates ten years since the quartet was named the first-ever DMR Ensemble in 2013.

Pacifica Quartet will visit the University three times for weeklong residencies during the University's autumn, winter, and spring academic quarters. The ensemble will present three public concerts while in residence, along with participating in interdisciplinary panels and discussions, visiting music classes, leading workshops with Department of Music ensembles, and engaging with school and community music programs in the city.

The autumn residency will feature a Lecture Demonstration with the quartet of Sean Shepherd's String Quartet No. 3 at the International House on Thursday, October 19, at 5:30 p.m. and a performance of works by Prokofiev, Beethoven, and Shepherd with UChicago Presents on Friday, October 20, at 7:30 p.m. in Mandel Hall. The winter residency includes a performance of Stephen Paulus's Three Places of Enlightenment for String Quartet and Orchestra with the University of Chicago Symphony Orchestra on Saturday, January 27, 2024, at 8:00 p.m. and a program of Gruenberg, Shostakovich, and Dvořák with UChicago Presents on Sunday, January 28, 2024, at 3:00 p.m.

With a career spanning nearly three decades, the Pacifica Quartet has achieved international recognition as one of the finest chamber ensembles performing today. The Quartet is known for its virtuosity, exuberant performance style, and often daring repertory choices. With its powerful energy and captivating, cohesive sound, the Pacifica has established itself as the embodiment of the senior American quartet sound. Having served as quartet-in-residence at Indiana University's Jacobs School of Music for the past decade, the Quartet also leads the Center for Advanced Quartet Studies at the Aspen Music Festival and School and was previously the quartet-in-residence at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The Randel residency was established with a gift from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to honor its departing president and noted musicologist, Don Michael Randel, who served as the 12th president of the University of Chicago and is an emeritus faculty member in the Department of Music. The funding supports an acclaimed musical ensemble for up to three years, providing a permanent home for world-class musicians to engage with the University and Hyde Park communities. The Pacifica Quartet, the resident ensemble in the Department of Music for seventeen years, was the first to hold the appointment as Don Michael Randel Ensemble-in-Residence beginning in 2013. Subsequent Ensembles in Residence have been Imani Winds (2016-2018), Sweet Honey In The Rock (2018-19), Plena Libre (2019-20), Quatuor Diotima (2021-22), and Amjad Ali Khan and Ensemble (2022-23).

Additional events and residency details will be announced later this season. For more information, visit music.uchicago.edu.