A Celebratory Reunion of NEC String Quartets at Chamber Music America National Conference

The legacy of chamber music at NEC was on display at Chamber Music America’s National Conference, where The Balourdet Quartet, NEC’s most recent Quartet-in-Residence, was honored with the Cleveland Quartet Award on January 20.

Chamber Music America also hosted a Jubilee celebration in honor of the Cleveland Quartet, where NEC faculty members and alumni in the Borromeo, Parker, and Verona Quartets performed. The Borromeo String Quartet studied in NEC’s Artist Diploma program, graduating in 1992 and beginning over thirty years as NEC’s Faculty Quartet-in-Residence. The Parker and Verona Quartets matriculated through NEC’s Professional String Quartet Program, a two-year program providing intensive training and coaching to exceptional, pre-existing groups who demonstrate the talent and commitment necessary to pursue a concert career, led by faculty member Paul Katz.

“All three of these groups received the Cleveland Quartet Award, just as the Balourdet does now! These are thrilling honors that point to the depth of quality of playing, teaching, and studying chamber music at NEC,” said Nicholas Kitchen, NEC faculty and violinist in the Borromeo String Quartet.

Paul Katz, fellow faculty member Donald Weilerstein, and retired faculty member Martha Strongin Katz were three of the four founding members of the remarkable Cleveland Quartet. Founded in 1969, the Cleveland Quartet was known worldwide as one of the most preeminent string quartets. “The quartet played more than 2,500 concerts across five continents in the great musical capitals of the world,” says Chamber Music America. “They made 70 recordings and commissioned dozens of new works while simultaneously establishing themselves as world-class teachers.”

In honor of their lasting legacy, CMA’s Cleveland Quartet Award seeks to honor and promote a rising young string quartet whose artistry demonstrates that it is in the process of establishing a major career. As recent graduates of NEC’s Professional String Quartet training program, the Balourdet Quartet is now the Graduate Quartet in Residence at the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University. They received the Grand Prize at the 2021 Concert Artists Guild Victor Elmaleh Competition and top prizes in international competitions, including the Banff, Premio Paolo Borciani, Carl Nielsen, Fischoff, and Yellow Springs Competitions.

“The Balourdet are so brilliant and committed and deserve the recognition that the Cleveland Quartet Award gives,” says Kitchen. “What makes me most proud of the way chamber music works at NEC is that even though I celebrate the glory of their receiving the Award, what I remember immediately is our many hours spent coaching the pieces they are playing. In particular, I remember a four-hour coaching session on Beethoven’s Grosse Fugue. It is this tireless and passionate determination to get at the essence of what makes each piece of music inspiring that is the real foundation of what makes Chamber Music at NEC so great. We are all so proud to play our part in it!”