FIVE THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT
THE JACK QUARTET

July 12, 2017 | by Ross Eustis

Jack Quartet

The "superheroes of the new music world" (Boston Globe) JACK Quartet debut at SFJAZZ on July 27-28, performing works by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer John Luther Adams, including the world premiere of Everything That Rises. Here's five things to know about the acclaimed young string quartet.

1. The group formed in 2007 while studying at the prestigious Eastman School of Music, and were mentored by the Kronos Quartet, Arditti Quartet and Muir String Quartet.
2. The quartet have performed on the prestigious stages of Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center, and received the Trailblazer Award from New Music USA, the CMS/ASCAP Award for Adventurous Programming, and the Martin E. Segal Award from Lincoln Center.
3. JACK has worked extensively with modern masters including Steve Reich, John Zorn, Roger Reynolds, Georg Friedrich Haas, and of course John Luther Adams, with whom they recorded Adams’ 2015 The Wind in High Places.
4. DXARTS lab at University of Washington work with JACK Quartet using high-precision machines and a technology used for polygraph tests to map a range of bio-neural activity: brain waves; the arm muscles of musicians while they play; how eyes move in response to stimuli; the bioelectrical activity on a person’s skin.
5. NPR Music broadcasted and archived JACK Quartet's 2011 "Chamber Music In The Greene Space." Listen here.