CAVANI STRING QUARTET

Annie Fullard, violin
Mari Sato, violin
Kirsten Docter, viola
Merry Peckham, cello

The Cavani String Quartet won of the prestigious Naumburg Chamber Music Award and numerous other competitions. As the Quartet-in-Residence at the Cleveland Institute of music since 1988, it has developed the Apprentice Quartet Program, the Intensive Quartet Seminar, and the New Quartet Project for students devoted to the serious study of chamber music. Students from these programs have joined notable quartets, among them, the Biava Quartet, which will perform here in our own series on April 9, 2006.

The Cavani Quartet made its New York debut in 1987 and has performed on major series and festivals throughout North America and Europe. It has performed at Carnegie and Alice Tully Halls in New York, the Corcoran Gallery of Art and the Kennedy Center in Washington, as well as Los Angeles, Amsterdam, and France. It has been featured on National Public Radio's Performance Today and seen on NBC, CBS, ABC and PBS television. Collaborations with distinguished artists include Itzhak Perlman, Michaela Petri, Anton Nel, Benita Valente, and members of the Juilliard, Cleveland, and Emerson String Quartets.

The Cavani Quartet has become nationally recognized as a pioneer in arts-in-education programs for audiences of all ages. When it appeared in Newtown in the 2003-2004 season, it proved to be such a popular outreach presenter that we have scheduled an encore performance with the Intermediate School orchestra this Monday.

As active proponents of new music, the Cavani Quartet has commissioned, performed, and recorded the music of a worldwide array of living composers. Merry Peckham's Breakfast at the Ibis will be performed today.

The Cavani Quartet's name is a tribute to the 19th century violin makers Giovanni and Vincenzo Cavani. The quartet has recorded a wide variety of works on the Azica, Gaspara, New World, Albany, and Pantheon labels.