Ives Quartet Online Media Kit

Inspired by the passionate, artistic commitment and unique temperament of American composer Charles Ives (1874–1954), the Ives Quartet creates powerful live-music experiences through the presentation of fresh and informed interpretations of a carefully curated repertory to American and international audiences. It has established a reputation for passion, precision, and provocative programming, winning accolades for playing that shows both “super-refinement” and “visceral, rock-and-roll intensity.”

The Quartet has championed an unusual repertoire, attracting critical enthusiasm for its practice of “reveling in the unfamiliar” and bringing underappreciated gems of the string-quartet literature to a wide audience. The repertoire combines established masterworks with underappreciated gems, neglected scores of early-20th century America, and specially commissioned new pieces.

Much of the Ives’s particular magic is achieved by applying an American musical temperament to established string-quartet conventions of repertoire and performance. This spirit makes the Ives Quartet’s concerts unusually open and effective. The unique perspective of the Quartet, which reflects the rich and varied backgrounds of the quartet's members, graces San Francisco Bay Area stages during its home season and the concert halls and festival stages of Europe during the summer.

In a departure from convention, the Quartet is a combination of players with American and European experience and sensibilities, drawing on the talent and experience of the international, solo, orchestral, chamber, and recording careers of its artist members – Bettina Mussumeli, violin; Susan Freie, violin; Jodi Levitz, viola; and Stephen Harrison, cello.

History for Media Kit