The , often known simply as , has specialized in the performance of contemporary music for string quartet. In addition to performing and recording, the group's work has a strong educational component. The has a substantial recording catalog stretching back to the late 2000s decade. In 2025, the group released a recording of the .

The was founded in 2005 by violinists and Ari Streisfeld, violist , and cellist , whose first initials spelled out the name. The original members were students at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, but it was in New York City that they joined forces and studied with the , , and Muir Quartets. Violinist and cellist replaced Streisfeld and in 2016, but the name was retained.

has performed at top international venues, including Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center in New York, Wigmore Hall in London, and the Muziekgebouw in Amsterdam. It has appeared not only at venerable outposts of the European avant-garde, such as the Donaueschingen Festival in Germany, the Venice Biennale in Italy, and the Lucerne Festival in Switzerland, but also at Indonesia's Bali Arts Festival, with works by such composers as , , , and at the center of its repertory. It has been heard on several programs on U.S. National Public Radio and its affiliates, as well as on national radio in Australia. In 2009, made its recording debut with an album of the .

has combined concertizing with a strong educational mission. It has begun educational residencies with composition students from institutions including New York University, Columbia University, and the University of Iowa, with whose String Quartet Residency Program it has had a long relationship. The group has held summer teaching residencies at New Music on the Point, a contemporary chamber music festival in Vermont for young performers and composers. Additionally, the quartet makes regular visits to schools such as Columbia University, Harvard University, and Stanford University. has recorded for the Mode, Tzadik, and labels, among others; the year 2018 saw the group collaborate with mezzo-soprano on a release of . The remained busy through the COVID-19 pandemic, issuing no fewer than six albums in the musically depressed year of 2020 alone; was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance. The quartet released the album Christopher Otto: rags'ma on the Greyfade label in 2021 and returned in 2022 on Naxos with the album . The group was also heard with the choir on the album Sila — The Breath of the World that year on the Cantaloupe label. The recorded another work, , on the label in 2024. In 2025, the group returned with a complete recording of the on 's Tzadik label and , featuring the works of its own violinist. By that time, the quartet's recording catalog included some 60 items. ~ James Manheim

The JACK Quartet

Top Tracks