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formosa quartet

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Winners of the First Prize and the Amadeus Prize at the Tenth London International String Quartet Competition in 2006, the Formosa Quartet was formed in 2003 when the four founding members came together for a concert tour of Taiwan, the land of their shared heritage. Reviewing their critically acclaimed debut CD released by EMI, the Strad states, “their imaginative account of Mozart … is spellbinding,” while Gramophone describes their playing as “remarkably fine both in meticulous response to the letter and in a desire to look beyond the notes.” Recent performances include the critical acclaimed inaugural concert at McGill International String Quartet Academy, Ravinia Festival, the Chicago Cultural Center, Wigmore Hall, the Royal Academy of Music, the New School in New York, the Caramoor Festival, the Walter Reade Theater at Lincoln Center, the Library of Congress in Washington D.C., San Francisco State University, the Da Camera Society of Los Angeles, La Jolla Summerfest, Music Mountain, and a winner’s tour of the UK.

In addition to their performances of traditional repertoire, the Formosa Quartet has also embraced the works of contemporary composers, with world premieres of Shih-hui Chen’s Mei Hua for String Quartet and of Thomas Oboe Lee’s Piano Quintet, as well as performances of pieces by Bright Sheng, Dana Wilson, and Richard Wilson.

The members of the Formosa Quartet – Jasmine Lin, Stefan Milenkovich, Che-Yen Chen, and Ru-Pei Yeh – have established themselves as leading solo, chamber, and orchestral musicians. With degrees from Juilliard, Curtis, and New England Conservatory, they have performed in major venues around the United States, Asia, Europe, South America, and Australia. They have been top prizewinners in the Primrose, Paganini, Naumburg, Lionel Tertis, Young Concert Artists, Jaroslav Kozian International, Indianapolis, Queen Elisabeth, Hannover, Tibor Varga, Ludwig Spohr, and Yehudi Menuhin competitions. As chamber musicians, they have appeared regularly at the Marlboro, La Jolla Summerfest, Kingston, Seattle Chamber Music Society, Santa Fe, Ottawa, Ravinia, South Bank, and Berlin festivals, as well as at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and Jupiter Chamber Music Series. They have held title positions in the San Diego and Cincinnati Symphonies and have been on the faculty at University of California San Diego, California State University Fullerton, Taos School of Music, Northern Illinois University, Stanford University, McGill University, Juilliard School's Pre-College Division, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and Northwestern University.

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