The Escher String Quartet has received acclaim for its individual sound, inspired artistic decisions and unique cohesiveness. The Quartet has performed at prestigious venues and festivals around the world including Lincoln Center, the 92nd Street Y and Symphony Space in New York, Boston's Gardner Museum, the Louvre in Paris, the Ravinia and Caramoor Festivals, Music@Menlo, La Jolla SummerFest and the Rhinebeck Chamber Music Society; and has collaborated with eminent artists such as Andrés Diaz, Lawrence Dutton, Kurt Elling, Leon Fleisher, Lynn Harrell, Wu Han, Gary Hoffman, Jeffrey Kahane, Joseph Kalichstein, Kurt Muroki, Paul Neubauer, Pepe Romero, Joseph Silverstein, pop folk singer-songwriter Luke Temple, David Shifrin and Pinchas Zukerman. Within months of its inception in 2005, the Escher was invited by both Pinchas Zukerman and Itzhak Perlman to be the quartet-in-residence at each artist's summer festival: The Young Artists Programme at Canada's National Arts Centre and The Perlman Chamber Music Program on Shelter Island, NY.
In June 2009 the Escher debuts at the Bargemusic Festival in New York and continues into the 2009-2010 season with debuts at the Dallas Chamber Music Society and the Fortas Chamber Music Series in Washington DC. The ensemble also presents concerts at Colorado University, the University of Wyoming, and the Sanibel Music Festival. The group begins its third season as a member of CMS Two, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center's residency program for young performers in the early stages of major careers. As part of the Chamber Music Society's International String Quartet Series, the Escher performs in Lincoln Center's recently renovated Alice Tully Hall.
Last season the Escher debuted at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC, the Louvre in Paris, as well as in New Orleans, Orange County, CA, and San Jose. The Escher performed at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa, Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, Music@Menlo and the Gold Coast Festival. The Escher has served as the Ernst Stiefel String Quartet-in-Residence in Caramoor - where they performed their first commissioned work by Pierre Jalbert - and in 2007 joined the faculty of Stony Brook University as Visiting Artist-in-Residence in a unique relationship with the world-renowned Emerson String Quartet.
The Escher String Quartet takes its name from Dutch graphic artist M.C. Escher inspired by Escher's method of interplay between individual components working together to form a whole.
Adam Barnett-Hart (Violin); Wu Jie (Violin);
Pierre Lapointe (Viola); Andrew Janss (Cello)
AT THE REQUEST OF THE ARTIST, PLEASE DO NOT ALTER THIS BIOGRAPHY WITHOUT PRIOR APPROVAL
JUNE 2009-PLEASE DESTROY ANY PREVIOUSLY DATED MATERIALS