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. Based in New York City, members of the Cramer Quartet are persons of color, women, gender non-conforming/non-binary and LGBTQ individuals committed to centering the voices of underrepresented and marginalized communities.
Artists
Program
Preview
Performances (Free Tickets)
Artist Bios
Artists
Cramer Quartet
Jessica Park, Violin
Chiara Fasani Stauffer, Violin
Keats Dieffenbach, Viola
Shirley Hunt, Cello, Viola da Gamba
Program
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Suite for Solo Cello in C Major, No. 3 BWV 1009
Prelude-Allemande
Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)
String Quartet in C major, Op. 20, No. 2
I. Moderato
Nicola Matteis Jr (1690 — 1749)
Fantasia in C minor
I. Con discretione
Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767)
Fantasia No. 7 in E flat Major, TWV 40:20
Dolce-Allegro-Largo-Presto
Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)
String Quartet in B Minor, Op. 33, No. 1
IV. Presto
Preview
Performances
Early Music Wednesdays 7:30 PM ET 3/3/21
Free Tickets
Artist Bios
Praised as an “exceptional talent” by the Frankfurter Neue Presse, violinist Jessica Park captivates audiences from New York to Seoul with a diverse and compelling array of solo and chamber music performances. Equally at home on both modern and baroque violins, Ms. Park has appeared internationally at such venues as the Cologne Philharmonie, Seoul Arts Center, Shanghai Grand Theatre, and the Vienna Konzerthaus; and stateside at Alice Tully Hall, Symphony Hall (Boston), and Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall.
A versatile and imaginative artist, Ms. Park is in high demand as an interpreter of baroque and classical repertoire. She can be heard frequently with the country’s premier period instrument ensembles, including the Handel and Haydn Society, Boston Baroque, Trinity Baroque Orchestra, The American Classical Orchestra, and New York Baroque Incorporated. Her duo with fortepianist Ji-Young Kim was recently featured at the Boston Early Music Festival, and in 2017 Ms. Park founded the Cramer Quartet, a period instrument string quartet.
Ms. Park’s commitment to the art of string quartet playing has resonated strongly throughout her career, resulting in performances at the Metropolitan Museum, the Morgan Library, the New York Historical Society, and WQXR. She has worked closely with members of the Brentano, Cleveland, Emerson, Juilliard, Mendelssohn, Orion, Tokyo, and Ying Quartets. In 2018, Ms. Park and the Cramer Quartet participated in an intensive residency program at the Avaloch Farm Music Institute.
A native of Cincinnati, Ms. Park moved to New York City to attend the Juilliard School. She holds Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from Juilliard, as well as a Professional Studies Diploma from the Mannes School of Music. Ms. Park was also a Fellow at the Yale School of Music, where she was a member of the Yale Baroque Ensemble. Ms. Park’s principal teachers include Mark Steinberg, Ronald Copes, Hyo Kang, and Robert Mealy.
Ms. Park resides in New York City, where she enjoys baking, reading, and running in Central Park.
Swiss violinist Chiara Fasani Stauffer enjoys playing music ranging from the Baroque to the twenty-first century and has had the privilege of performing across three continents. Since relocating to the United States in 2012, Stauffer co-founded Time Canvas, a chamber music group committed to bringing innovative music to people across a broad section of society. In addition to her duties as a violinist, she serves as the artistic director of the ensemble. As a baroque violinist Stauffer performs with ensembles such as Apollo’s Fire, the Washington Bach Consort, and the Sebastians; and, she is a 2019 English Concert American Fellow. Other performance highlights include an appearance on A Prairie Home Companion with the East 4th Street Quartet, recording a critically acclaimed jazz album with saxophonist Bobby Selvaggio’s Transcendental Orchestra, and performing live on radio station WCLV as part of the new music group FiveOne Experimental Orchestra. Stauffer holds degrees from the Juilliard School and the Basel Hochschule für Musik, as well as a minor from the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis.
Equally comfortable on the stages of Carnegie Hall and the set of Saturday Night Live, Keats Dieffenbach has established herself as a unique artist with infinitely varied interests and abilities. Lauded by the New York Times as an “impressive performer,” Keats’ dual specialization in contemporary and historical performance on multiple instruments keeps her in demand with many leading ensembles. Keats is a member of Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Mark Morris Dance Group Music Ensemble, Juilliard415, and The Serenade Quartet, and she has appeared frequently with The Knights, A Far Cry chamber orchestra, and Carnegie Hall’s Ensemble Connect with whom she held a prestigious two-year fellowship position. An avid chamber musician, Keats’ collaborators have ranged from Emanuel Ax and Christian Tetzlaff to indie rock sensation Vampire Weekend. She has served as concertmaster under many leading conductors and has worked closely with composers Steve Reich, Shulamit Ran, Nico Muhly, and others. Keats studied modern violin with Robert Mann at The Juilliard School and served as Donald Weilerstein’s teaching assistant at New England Conservatory. She recently graduated from Juilliard’s Historical Performance program as a baroque violin student of Cynthia Roberts and Elizabeth Blumenstock.
Internationally respected cellist and viola da gamba player Shirley Hunt brings fierce imagination and integrity to the music of the Renaissance, Baroque, Classical and Contemporary eras. Praised by The Strad as “stylish and accomplished,” she embraces an eclectic musical life as a multi-instrumental soloist and collaborator.
Ms. Hunt recently released her second solo album, J.S. Bach Suites & Sonatas Vol. 2. The recording is the second installment in an ambitious three-part recording project featuring Bach’s complete cello suites and viola da gamba sonatas. Ms. Hunt’s previous recordings have been praised for her “soulful renditions,” “high-wire interpretations,” and “resonant, singing tone that stays in the mind” (Facts & Arts).
In high demand as viola da gamba soloist and continuo cellist for the Passions, Cantatas, and Concertos of J.S. Bach, Ms. Hunt has performed and recorded with the nation’s leading period instrument ensembles including Boston Baroque, Handel and Haydn Society, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, American Bach Soloists, Portland Baroque Orchestra, Musica Angelica, Bach Collegium San Diego, the Sebastians, New York Baroque Incorporated, Sonnambula, Trinity Baroque Orchestra, and Bach Vespers at Holy Trinity.
Ms. Hunt has performed solo recitals at DePaul University, the Berkeley Early Music Festival, the Boston Public Library, King’s Chapel, the Loring-Greenough House, the Early Music Series at the Bryon Colby Barn, and Spectrum NYC. Since 2011 Ms. Hunt has performed a yearly recital as an artist-in-residence at The Museum of Jurassic Technology in Los Angeles. She has also appeared at the Phillips Collection, The Strathmore Mansion, the Library of Congress, La Jolla Music Society, National Sawdust, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Originally from Portland, Oregon, Ms. Hunt was born into a musical family and is the younger sister of the late mezzo-soprano Lorraine Hunt Lieberson. Ms. Hunt divides her time between Boston and New York City. She performs on a 1775 English cello by William Forster Sr.
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