Biography
The EUCLID QUARTET enjoys one of the most highly regarded reputations of any chamber ensemble of its generation, with its members’ constituting a multinational mix: violinists Jameson Cooper and Aviva Hakanoglu, violist Luis Enrique Vargas, and cellist Justin Goldsmith. Captivating audiences and critics ranging from Carnegie Hall to school classrooms to radio and television broadcasts, the quartet consistently performs to enthusiastic acclaim throughout the country.
Formed in Ohio in 1999, the Euclid Quartet takes its name from the famous Euclid Avenue in Cleveland, home to a wealth of renowned artistic and cultural institutions. Within three years, the ensemble was awarded the String Quartet Fellowship of the Aspen Music Festival, where it was invited to return for the subsequent summer’s concert season. The quartet was also invited to study with the Emerson String Quartet at the Carnegie Hall Professional Training Workshop. Highlights of the Euclid Quartet’s career include significant global recognition as the first American string quartet to be awarded a top prize at the prestigious Osaka International Chamber Music Competition. Prior to its Japanese laurels, the quartet also won awards in numerous United States competitions, including the Hugo Kauder International Competition for String Quartets, Carmel Chamber Music Competition and Chamber Music Yellow Springs Competition. In 2009, the Euclid Quartet was awarded the esteemed “American Masterpieces” grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.
In 2007, the Euclid Quartet was appointed to the prestigious string quartet residency at Indiana University South Bend, where its members teach private lessons and coach chamber music. In addition to their role as faculty members, they are the directors of the Louise E. Addicott Summer Chamber Music Festival at IU South Bend, which will have its inaugural season in July 2025. Passionately devoted to presenting the highest quality chamber music to young audiences, these seasoned teaching artists have performed for thousands of students and young adults, in part through support from the National Endowment for the Arts and collaborations with Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute and the Fischoff National Chamber Music Association.
The Euclid Quartet is a frequent guest ensemble at American and Canadian music festivals, among them the Mostly Modern Festival, Aspen, Music Mountain, Great Lakes, Kent/Blossom and Orford festivals, while expanded programs have included collaborations with internationally renowned artists, including James Dunham, Gregory Fulkerson, Warren Jones, Paul Katz, Joseph Silverstein and Alexander Toradze. As passionate advocates for new music, the Euclid Quartet has commissioned and premiered contemporary works by numerous notable composers including Robert Paterson, Armando Bayolo, Jorge Muniz and Dan Welcher. Recently, the Euclid Quartet gave the world premiere of Anna Clyne’s concerto for string quartet and orchestra Quarter Days, commissioned to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Fischoff Chamber Music Association.
Active in the recording studio, the Euclid Quartet has released six albums to date, including Debussy|Grieg on Afinat Records in August 2024. Earlier in the year, the quartet released Breve, which features short works showcasing a wide range of styles. The album was lauded by Gramophone magazine: “stunning... their command is exhilarating in its silken breadth and sleek virtuosity.” In 2017, the quartet issued a disc of DvoÅ™ák and Wynton Marsalis on Afinat Records. The Strad Magazine praised the new recording: "The members of the Euclid Quartet hurl themselves into the fray with alacrity, relishing the music's invention with contagious wit and virtuosity." Previous releases include the complete string quartets of Béla Bartók on Artek Recordings. The American Record Guide raved about these discs, “rarely has a group found such meaning and vision.” Their debut CD, on Centaur Records, features the first four quartets of Hugo Kauder, a refugee from Nazi-occupied Austria who fled to the United States in the 1940s.