Euclid Quartet PLAIN TEXT BIOGRAPHIES current as of September 2007 www.euclidquartet.net Represented by: Lisa Sapinkopf Artists 800.923.1973 LSapinkopf@aol.com Members: Jameson Cooper, violin Jacob Murphy, violin Luis Enrique Vargas, viola David Beem, cello GROUP BIOGRAPHY - SHORT Described by the Denver Post as "electric," the Euclid Quartet is a multinational group known for performances filled with personality and vibrant color. They recently won third prize at the Osaka International Chamber Music Competition in Japan, and have also earned top prizes at the Carmel, Yellow Springs and Hugo Kauder competitions. The quartet has appeared at many prestigious venues including Merkin Hall, Carnegie Hall and two World Premieres at the Aspen Music Festival. Their CD of Kauder Quartets was recently released on Centaur Records. The quartet is in residence at Indiana University South Bend, and is represented in the U.S. by Lisa Sapinkopf Artists. GROUP BIOGRAPHY - MEDIUM Described by the Denver Post as "electric," the Euclid Quartet is a multinational group known for performances filled with personality and vibrant color. They recently won third prize at the Osaka International Chamber Music Competition in Japan, and have also earned top prizes at the Carmel, Yellow Springs, and Hugo Kauder competitions. They have performed in many prestigious venues including Weill Recital Hall and Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall, Merkin Hall, and at the Aspen Music Festival. The quartet has given master classes at Reed College, Eastern Michigan University, Hartwick College, Skidmore College, and the Levine School of Music. They have appeared at the Great Lakes, Blossom, and Orford Summer Music Festivals. Their CD of string quartets by Hugo Kauder was recently released on Centaur Records. The Euclid Quartet won a fellowship to the Aspen Music Festival's Center for Advanced Quartet Studies in 2002 and 2003. They also trained with the Emerson String Quartet at the Carnegie Hall Professional Training Workshop on the Bartok quartets. The quartet is currently in residence at Indiana University South Bend, and is represented in the U.S. by Lisa Sapinkopf Artists. GROUP BIOGRAPHY - FULL Praised by the Denver Post for their "electric" playing, the Euclid Quartet is a dynamic string quartet known for performances filled with personality and vibrant color. At appearances ranging from Carnegie Hall to school classrooms to radio and television broadcasts, the quartet has performed to high acclaim across the country. The quartet has earned significant recognition at major competitions, recently winning Third Place at the Osaka (Japan) International Chamber Music Competition, and Grand Prize at the Hugo Kauder International Competition for String Quartets at Yale University. This victory is added to top prizes already earned at the Carmel Chamber Music Competition and the Chamber Music Yellow Springs Competition. For the summers of 2002 and 2003 the quartet was one of three ensembles selected worldwide to participate as a fellowship quartet at the Aspen Music Festival in Colorado. They have also appeared at the Kent/Blossom (Ohio) festival, the Orford (Québec) music festival, the Great Lakes Chamber Music festival (Detroit, Michigan), and at the Audubon Quartet Seminar in Virginia. The Euclid Quartet has also collaborated with internationally renowned artists, such as Joseph Silverstein and Jennifer Ringo. In 2007, the quartet was appointed Resident String Quartet at Indiana University South Bend, where they teach private lessons and coach chamber music. The quartet is committed to exposing young audiences to the joy of chamber music, and frequently perform programs tailored towards children, including a series of performances as "Musical Explorers" at Carnegie Hall. The Euclid Quartet is dedicated to performing contemporary music, and has commissioned works from several noted composers. They have also performed many world premieres, including works by Dan Welcher, Armando Bayolo, and James Leatherbarrow. This season the quartet celebrates the release of their debut CD for Centaur Records, a collection of string quartets by Austrian-American composer Hugo Kauder. Formed in Ohio in 1998, the quartet takes its name from the famous Euclid Avenue in Cleveland, home to a wealth of artistic and cultural institutions. The quartet has had the privilege of working with many distinguished musicians, including members of the American, Audubon, Cleveland, Emerson, Guarneri, Juilliard, LaSalle, Miami, and Takacs quartets. The Euclid Quartet is represented in the U.S. by Lisa Sapinkopf Artists. MEMBER BIOGRAPHIES JAMESON COOPER Jameson Cooper, originally from Sheffield, England, began playing the violin at age 6. At 13 he joined the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain and later became concertmaster of the National Youth Chamber Orchestra. He studied with Malcolm Layfield and Wen Zhou Li at The Royal Northern College of Music, where he earned a Graduate of Music Degree with Honors and a Professional Performance Diploma. Mr. Cooper first came to the U.S. as a participant in the Aspen Music Festival. Since then, he has studied with Dorothy DeLay, Masao Kawasaki, and Roland and Almita Vamos. He earned Masters Degrees in Violin and Conducting from Kent State University, where he later served as Assistant Professor of Violin and Viola at the University's Hugh A. Glauser School of Music. He has performed as soloist with orchestra, recitalist, and chamber musician throughout the U.S. and Europe. In the 2001-02 season, Jameson played in the Audubon Quartet in its Beethoven Quartet cycle series. Recipient of numerous prizes, including the Prince's Trust Award, and first prize in the Tuesday Musical Club of Akron and Kent State University Concerto Competitions, Mr. Cooper has also recorded Icelandic music for Musart, and new music by Kent State University composers on Innova. Jameson has given masterclasses at Virginia Tech, Michigan State University, and Morningside College, and is a former faculty member of the Lyceum Music School of Oldham, England. JACOB MURPHY A founding member of the Euclid Quartet, Jacob Murphy hails from Fresno, California. He began his violin studies at the age of 6, and soon earned acclaim as soloist with the Kings Symphony Orchestra and the Fresno Youth Philharmonic Orchestra. He was also a recipient of the Fresno Arts Council Horizon Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Arts. Mr. Murphy continued his studies at the Eastman School of Music, where he received his B.M. in 1998. He then attended Kent State University as a graduate assistant, where he received his M.M. in 2000. His principal teachers included Charles Castleman, Gregory Fulkerson, Camilla Wicks, and Claudia Shiuh. He attended such festivals as the Heidelberg (Germany) Castle Festival, the Quartet Program at Bucknell University, Aspen Music Festival, National Orchestral Institute, and the Orford Arts Centre. On top of being an accomplished quartet musician, Mr. Murphy has made a point of gaining knowledge and expertise in all styles of classical music. He has performed with a baroque period performance ensemble, which was led by the famous lutenist Paul O'Dette. On the other side of the spectrum, Jacob has also been involved with several new music ensembles, and has recorded contemporary music for the Innova label. LUIS ENRIQUE VARGAS Luis Enrique Vargas, violist, is a native of Barquisimeto, Venezuela. He began viola lessons at age 14, studying at the Vicente Emilio Sojo and the Simon Bolivar Conservatories of Music in Venezuela. Throughout his career, Mr. Vargas has studied with many internationally known musicians. Among them are Jose Manuel Roman, Richard Young, Gerard Causee, Li-Kuo Chang, James Dunham, Michael Tree, Earl Carlyss, and the Vermeer and Emerson string quartets. In his native land, he was an active performer and educator and collaborated with the National Youth Orchestra of Venezuela. He was a member of the Venezuelan Lara State and the Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestras. He toured to Brazil, Spain, and France, performing at the Festival de la Radio France et Montpellier in 1993. With the Simon Bolivar Orchestra he performed in Paris in 1995 at the UNESCO and at the Sorbonne University, and in Madrid at the Bela Bartok Concert Series. Also with them he recorded "Latin-American Lollipops," a compilation of Latin-American masterpieces on the Dorian label. Mr. Vargas has participated in several international chamber music festivals, including Aspen, Norfolk, and Great Lakes, and has performed as a chamber musician throughout the US, South America, Canada, and Europe. Mr. Vargas was the violist of the Cuarteto America (string quartet) from 1997 through 1999, during which time he pursued a Diploma in Chamber Music at Wilfrid Laurier University (Canada) and a Masters degree from Miami University of Ohio. He has been violist of the Euclid Quartet since September 2001. DAVID BEEM Raised in South Bend, Indiana, cellist David Beem joined the Euclid Quartet in August, 2007. David was a finalist in the 1998 Naumburg String Quartet Competition and First Prize-winner of the 1998 Chamber Music Yellow Springs Competition. David's string quartet training has included studies at the Cleveland Quartet Seminar, Banff Centre for Advanced Chamber Music Studies, Isaac Stern Carnegie Hall Seminar, Steans Institute at Ravinia, and the Great Lakes Festival. Prior to his appointment with the Euclid Quartet, David served on the faculty of Indiana University Bloomington as Associate Instructor of Chamber Music and Instructor of Cello at Murray State University. From 2002 to 2007, David served as Principal Cellist of the Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra. This post combined duties as Artist-in-Residence at the University of Evansville and Cellist of the Eykamp String Quartet. As a former and founding member of the Corigliano Quartet, David presented the South Korean premiere of John Corigliano's String Quartet No. 1. Together, their performances garnered critical acclaim at Carnegie Hall and Weill Recital Hall in New York City. Also with the Coriglianos, David recorded the music of Frederick Fox and Bernhard Heiden. Now a veteran soloist, David's recent concerto engagements have included performances of Richard Strauss' Don Quixote and Johannes Brahms' "Double Concerto" for Violin, Cello and Orchestra. David is also an active recitalist and has performed in the United States, Canada and Portugal. David was a student of Thomas Rosenberg, Paul Katz and Janos Starker, and holds a Bachelor of Music and Performer's Certificate from the Eastman School of Music.