The Cramer Quartet

Contact Information

(646) 823-7707

cramerquartet@gmail.com https://www.cramerquartet.com/

New York, New York

Type of Organization

Performing Ensemble

About

With period instruments and an invigorating historically informed approach, the Cramer Quartet brings uncommon warmth, transparency, and texture to Classical and early Romantic repertoire as well as commissioned works that explore and expand the sound world of gut strings. The quartet’s stylish, nuanced interpretations and visionary approach to programming stimulate dialogue around old and new works, inviting audiences to listen with fresh ears.

This season’s activities includes appearances at the Academy of Early Music in Ann Arbor, MI, the Stearns Collection of Instruments at the University of Michigan,  the world premiere of cello quintet Soul Bop by Brian Nabors at the Chamber Music Society of Central Virginia, and a residency at Portland Bach Experience. The Cramer Quartet is in the midst of Haydn: Dialogues, an ambitious multi-year cycle combining Haydn’s 68 string quartets with sixteen new commissions by composers of marginalized identities. This season will also include the next installment of Haydn: Dialogues, featuring the world premiere of a new work by inti figgis-vizueta to be performed alongside Haydn’s Op. 71 string quartets. Highlights of past seasons include performances of The Seven Last Words Project— an immersive multimedia journey through Haydn’s Seven Last Words of Christ as reflected upon by seven diverse contemporary composers— at Five Boroughs Music Festival; the quartet’s debut at Music Mountain Summer Festival as the first period instrument ensemble to perform in the concert series 92 year history, and a residency at Festival de Música de Santa Catarina in Jaraguá do Sul, Brazil.

The Cramer Quartet is the recipient of a Lower Manhattan Cultural Council Creative Engagement Grant, Chamber Music America’s Ensemble Forward Grant, and is generously supported by the Copland Foundation, and New York Council of the Arts. The ensemble takes its name from Wilhelm Cramer, a brilliant violinist who enjoyed a multifaceted career as London’s first major string quartet leader. Cramer is credited with popularizing a late 18th century violin bow which became the inspiration for the style of historical bows used by the Cramer Quartet.

More information can be found at www.cramerquartet.com