Biography

The Fine Arts Quartet, “one of the gold-plated names in chamber music" (Washington Post), ranks among the most distinguished ensembles in chamber music today, with an illustrious history of performing success and an extensive legacy of over 200 recorded works. Founded in Chicago in 1946, the Quartet is one of the elite few to have recorded and toured internationally for over three quarters of a century. 

The Quartet's renowned violinists, Ralph Evans (prizewinner in the International Tchaikovsky Competition) and Efim Boico (former concertmaster of the Orchestre de Paris under Barenboim) have performed together for more than 40 years. They are joined with two eminent musicians: violist Gil Sharon (founder of the Amati Ensemble), and cellist Niklas Schmidt (co-founder of the Trio Fontenay).  

Many of the Quartet's latest releases have been nominated for a Grammy® Award and/or received multiple awards and distinctions, among them: a Grammy® Award for producer Steven Epstein (Fauré Quintets with Cristina Ortiz), “Gramophone award-winner" and "recording of legendary status” (Gramophone Classical Music Guide), “Key Recording/Top Recommendation” (Penguin Guide to Recorded Classical Music), “Editor’s Choice” (Gramophone Magazine), "Critic's Choice" (American Record Guide) [2 times], “BBC Music Magazine Choice”, and "Recording of the Year" [3 times] (MusicWeb International)  The Quartet also received the CMA/ASCAP Award for Adventurous Programming, given jointly by Chamber Music America and the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers. The Quartet's 3 most recent recordings (Mozart, Enescu, Dvorak) were released by Naxos in 2023-24. See: Naxos News

The Quartet members have nurtured many of today's top young international quartets while teaching at the Sorkin International Institute of Chamber Music in Milwaukee and serving as guest professors at major conservatories in Paris, London, New York, Beijing, Hamburg, and music festivals all over the world. For more information on the Fine Arts Quartet, including a complete discography, please visit: fineartsquartet.com

The Quartet's early history can be found here.