Ehnes Quartet

The Ehnes Quartet consists of musicians who had played together in various combinations for more than ten years before the group became formally established. Consisting of North American players, the quartet has gained an international reputation. The Ehnes Quartet was formed in 2010. Its first violinist and leader is James Ehnes, a star of the violin who has performed in more than 35 countries on five continents and has won Grammy, Gramophone, and many Juno awards. Second violinist Amy Schwarz Moretti, in addition to maintaining a performing career, is the director of the McDuffie Center for Strings at Mercer University in Macon, Georgia, and curates a chamber music series there. Violist Richard O'Neill has appeared as a soloist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Seoul Philharmonic, and the Moscow Chamber Orchestra, among others, and he won an International Emmy for the documentary Hello?! Orchestra, about his formation of an orchestra of children from underprivileged backgrounds. Cellist Edward Arron, in addition to performing around North America, Europe, and Asia, and teaching at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, directs five chamber music concert series in New England and the South. The members of the Ehnes Quartet had been acquainted for many years and had often performed together in various groupings before formally establishing the quartet, which has gone on to perform not only in the U.S. but in such top European venues as Wigmore Hall in London, the Auditorium du Louvre in Paris, and the Théâtre du Jeu de Paume in Aix, among others. The Ehnes Quartet has also gained international attention for its recordings, made for the Onyx label. The partnership began with a 2014 release on which Ehnes played the violin concerto of Khachaturian, while the Ehnes Quartet offered a pair of Shostakovich works. The group returned in 2016 with a recording of quartets by Schubert and Sibelius, and in 2021 with a release devoted to Beethoven's String Quartet No. 13 in B flat major, Op. 130, and Grosse Fugue, Op. 133.
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