JACK Quartet

Christopher Otto (violin) ∙ Austin Wulliman (violin) ∙ John Pickford Richards (viola) ∙ Jay Campbell (cello)

“One of the most eye-opening and exhilarating concerts I’ve heard all season.” —The New York Times

Through intimate relationships with today’s most creative voices, JACK embraces close collaboration with the composers they perform, leading to a radical embodiment of the technical, musical, and emotional aspects of their work.

The quartet has worked with artists such as Julia Wolfe, George Lewis, Helmut Lachenmann, and Caroline Shaw, with upcoming and recent premieres including works by John Luther Adams, Catherine Lamb, Liza Lim, Tyshawn Sorey, Wadada Leo Smith, Amy Williams, and John Zorn.

Profile in The New York Times (November 2023)

Chamber Music

Sample Program

Morton Feldman
Structures

Caleb Burhans
Contritus

Philip Glass
Quartet No. 5

Caroline Shaw
Entr’acte

John Zorn
Remedy of Fortune


Correspondences:
Boulez at 100

Pierre Boulez
Selections from Livre pour cordes

John Cage
String Quartet in Four Parts

Anthony Cheung
New Work (commissioned by JACK Quartet)


Modern/Medieval

The neglected, though not forgotten, rites of the Medieval musical arts illuminate the musical manuscript anew as JACK explores the connections of musicality and thought between European composers of the past and the voices of American music today.

Programs are constructed from the following repertoire

Medieval works

Austin Wulliman
Hoquetus David on Guillaume de Machaut

Christopher Otto
Miserere (after Nathaniel Giles)

Christopher Otto
Angelorum Psalat (after Rodericus)

Nicola Vicentino (arr. Christopher Otto)
Madonna, il poco dolce

Nicola Vicentino (arr. Christopher Otto)
Musica Prisca Caput

With Shai Wosner, piano

Henry Purcell
Fantasy Upon One Note (piano quintet)

Ruth Crawford Seeger
String Quartet 1931

Wolfgang Rihm
Interscriptum

Christopher Otto
Miserere, after Nathaniel Giles

Amy Williams
Cineshape 2

George Benjamin
Relativity Rag

Thomas Adés
Piano Quintet

John Luther Adams Portrait

John Luther Adams
untouched

The Wind in High Places

Lines Made by Walking

20th Century masterpieces

Elliott Carter
String Quartet No. 1

George Crumb
Black Angels

Morton Feldman
Structures

Ruth Crawford Seeger
String Quartet 1931

Music of today

Amy Williams
New Work (2024)

Caroline Shaw
Entr'acte

Cenk Ergün
Sonare

Gabriella Smith
Carrot Revolution

John Zorn
The Remedy of Fortune

Johnny Macmillan
Songs From the Seventh Floor

Juri Seo
New Work (2024)

Vicente Atria
New Work (2024)

Concerts from Library of Congress Presents

JACK Quartet with Conrad Tao, piano

Rodericus: Angelorum Psalat (arranged by Christopher Otto)
Elliott Carter: Duo for Violin and Piano with Conrad Tao
Tyshawn Sorey: Everything Changes, Nothing Changes
Ruth Crawford Seeger: String Quartet
Tyshawn Sorey: For Conrad Tao
Elliott Carter: String Quartet No. 3

String Quartet No. 1 by Catherine Lamb

Presented by the University of Iowa String Quartet Residency Program in collaboration with the Center for New Music. Live-streamed on December 2, 2020 from Kaufman Music Center's Merkin Hall in New York City.

Concerto Grosso
by Allan Gravgaard Madsen

Aarhus Symphony Orchestra
Ryan Bancroft, conductor

Composer website
More information and score