Vermeer Quartet

The Vermeer Quartet was founded in 1969 at the Marlboro Music Festival, soon achieving international stature as one of the world's finest ensembles. The Vermeer performed well over two hundred works, including nearly all the "standard" string quartets, many lesser-known compositions, a number of contemporary scores, and various other works with guests. Their discography includes the complete string quartets of Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, and Bartók, plus various other works by Haydn, Schubert, Mendelssohn, Brahms, DvoÅ™ák, Verdi, Tchaikovsky, Shostakovich, and Schnittke. In 2003 the Vermeer received their 2nd Grammy nomination for their CD of the Shostakovich and Schnittke piano quintets with Boris Berman on the Naxos label. Their recording of the six Bartók quartets was released by Naxos in May 2005, and received a 3rd Grammy nomination.

The Vermeer was associated with Northern Illinois University as "resident artist faculty" since 1970, where they trained some of the most gifted young ensembles performing today, including the Shanghai String Quartet, Enso String Quartet, Avalon String Quartet, Pacifica String Quartet, and Arianna String Quartet. They were also Fellows at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, England. The Quartet retired from active performing in 2007.