Parker String Quartet

Daniel Chong, violin
Karen Kim, violin
Jessica Bodner, viola
Kee-Hyun Kim, cello

Winner, 2005 Concert Artists Guild International Competition

Winner, 2005 Bordeaux International String Quartet Competition

www.parkerquartet.com

The New York Times calls the Parker String Quartet, winner of Concert Artists Guild’s 2005 Competition, “something extraordinary.” The Boston Globe hails its “fiercely committed performances,” and The Washington Post declares it “a quartet that deserves close attention.”  Three months after winning the CAG Competition, the Quartet captured First Prize at the Bordeaux International String Quartet Competition, enhancing its international reputation.

The Parker Quartet was recently selected as the first of two string quartets for the prestigious new Young Artists Program of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra.  Beginning in the 2008-09 season, the ensemble spends a residency of up to three seasons with the SPCO, performing 20 weeks per season, including chamber music concerts, educational outreach activities and performances as members of the SPCO. 

Highlights for 2008-09 include performances with Rob Kapilow on his “What Makes it Great” Series at Lincoln Center and Jordan Hall on the Boston Celebrity Series, and chamber music recitals at the University of Illinois’ Krannert Center for the Arts, as well as concerts and residencies in eighteen different states across the country.  Internationally, the group began the season with a tour of Australia with pianist Kathryn Selby, and they return to Europe in October ’08, including a performance at the Louvre.

Equally at home in a famous concert hall or a downtown club, the Parker Quartet embraces opportunities to bring its music to new listeners in non-traditional spaces.  The ensemble performs in bars and clubs nationwide, and its performances in these venues have been covered with features in Time Out NY, The Boston Globe, Chamber Music Magazine and Musical America.com.  In Fall 2007, the group continues on this ground breaking path becoming the first ever String Quartet in Residence at Barbes Bar and Performance Space in Brooklyn.  As part of this residency, the Parker String Quartet performs a series of collaborative concerts with artists of various genres including jazz, folk and world.

The Parker Quartet’s debut CD featuring Bartok’s String Quartets Nos. 2 and 5, which was released in fall 2007 on the French label Zig Zag, has received high praise:  “The Parkers’ Bartok spins the illusion of spontaneous improvisation…they have absorbed the language; they have the confidence to play freely with the music and the instinct to bring it off.” (Gramophone).  The ensemble’s next recording is the complete string quartets of the late György Ligeti, due for release in 2008-09 on the Naxos label.

Recent highlights include stops at Lincoln Center’s Great Performers Series, the Library of Congress, the Wolf Trap Discovery Series, Ravinia’s Rising Stars Series, Boston’s Jordan Hall and Gardner Museum, the Cerritos Center, Clark Memorial Library at UCLA, the Philharmonic Society of Orange County and New York’s Merkin Concert Hall and Schneider Concerts.  The Quartet has also performed at Symphony Space’s Thalia Theatre as part of CAG’s New Works Series and at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall on CAG’s Winners Series, as well as at the Mostly Mozart and Caramoor Festivals. 

Dedicated to passing on the great chamber music tradition, the Parker Quartet spends a great deal of time each year working with young musicians through frequent educational residency activities.  The group has served as the Ernst Stiefel String Quartet in Residence of the Caramoor Center, which featured a three week long educational residency culminating in performances at the Center, and also was ensemble-in-residence at the Yellow Barn Music School and Festival.

The Parker Quartet's members hold graduate degrees in performance and chamber music from the New England Conservatory of Music and were part of the NEC's prestigious Professional String Quartet Training Program.  The Quartet was founded there and in 2002 and 2003 held the post of NEC's Honors Ensemble.