www.cuartetolatinoamericano.com
http://music.web.cmu.edu/cuarteto/index.php
Cuarteto Latinoamericano, formed in 1982, is known worldwide as the leading proponent of Latin American music for string quartet. This award-winning ensemble from Mexico consists of the three Bitrán brothers, violinists Saúl and Arón and cellist Alvaro , along with violist Javier Montiel. The Cuarteto has recorded most of the Latin American repertoire for string quartet, and the sixth volume of their Villa-Lobos 17 quartets cycle, recorded for Dorian, was nominated for a Grammy award in 2002 in the field of Best Chamber Music Recording as well as for a Latin Grammy.

The Cuarteto has performed as soloist with many orchestras, including the Los Angeles Philharmonic under Esa-Pekka Salonen, the Seattle Symphony under Gerard Schwarz, with the National Arts Center Orchestra in Ottawa, the Orquesta Filarmónica de la Ciudad de México, the Dallas Symphony and the Símón Bolívar Orchestra of Venezuela. The Cuarteto has toured extensively around the world including performances in Europe and the Americas, as well as in New Zealand and Israel; they have appeared in a wide range of venues from the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC to the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, Dartmouth College, Cornell University, Spivey Hall and the Ojai Festival. They have collaborated with many artists including cellist Janos Starker and Yehuda Hanani, pianists Santiago Rodriguez, Cyprien Katsaris and Rudolph Buchbinder, tenor Ramon Vargas, and guitarists Narciso Yepes, Sharon Isbin, David Tanenbaum and Manuel Barrueco. With Mr. Barrueco, they have played in some of the most important venues of the USA and Europe, have recorded two cds, and commissioned guitar quintets from American composers Michael Daugherty and Gabriela Lena Frank.

The Cuarteto is in residence at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh and at the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes in Mexico City.

Since 2004, the Cuarteto Latinoamericano has been awarded the “México en Escena” grant, from Mexico’s National Fund for Arts and Culture. Thanks to this support, the Cuarteto has been able to develop an intense educational program in Mexico’s major professional music schools, and also present a retrospective series of concerts with music for string quartet from virtually all Latin American countries. Additionally, and as part of this grant, the Cuarteto is collaborating with prestigious Mexican filmmakers on a series of video clips which will feature short works for quartet by Latin American composers.

The Cuarteto Latinoamericano is represented by Thomas Gallant, at MCM Artists. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.