The Ciompi Quartet
World-Class, Durham Based,
Four Decades of Performing Excellence at Duke
A history of connection
The Ciompi Quartet’s 2007-2008 season, another sequence of daring, committed chamber music marks the 43rd year of the Quartet’s residency at Duke. Founded in 1965 by the master Italian violinist Giorgio Ciompi, the Quartet has been dedicated to performing superb music in Durham and across the world for four decades.
On faculty at Duke, in conversation with the world
The Quartet’s members are professors in Duke’s Department of Music and active members of the Durham community. They are also players on a global stage, working with what the New York Times calls,a “genuine warmth of expression” and an “effortless sense of coordination.” In their roles as teachers, these renowned performers offer daily coaching sessions to Duke students.
Innovation is the rule
Each year, the Ciompi Quartet renews its dedication to performing the newest and most challenging chamber music available, much of it written especially for them. This season the Quartet performs recent work by Stephen Jaffe, along with ambitious arrangements by Bax and Schoenberg, among others — pieces whose nuance and force affirm the vitality of chamber music now.
International power, North Carolina community
The Quartet has performed on five continents and shared the stage with soloists ranging from piano legend Menahem Pressler to North Carolina resident Branford Marsalis. Le Monde admires “the way they invest themselves completely in the music they play”; the Italian press lauds their “impeccable precision.” But the praise that strikes closest to home comes from Raleigh: “the group plays everything,” says The News and Observer, “as if its life depends on it.”
The Quartet
Eric Pritchard - violin
Hsiao-mei Ku - violin
Jonathan Bagg - viola
Fred Raimi - cello
Duke Performances offers DP Series Packages that allow you to save up to 20% off single ticket prices. For information on the Ciompi Quartet Series package, please click here.