The Johannes Quartet brings together the first American to win the Paganini Violin Competition in 24 years, Soovin Kim; Concert Artists Guild Competition winner Jessica Lee; the Philadelphia Orchestra Principal violist, C.J. Chang; and former Principal cellist of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Peter Stumpf. Their collaboration was forged at the Marlboro Music Festival in Vermont, and shaped and mentored by the Guarneri String Quartet whose style was influenced by the Budapest String Quartet decades before. They are continuing the legacy of excellence. In addition to its recent broadcasts on Performance Today and St. Paul Sunday and a triumphant Carnegie Hall debut, the Johannes has had great successes with audiences and critics alike in Chicago, Philadelphia and Washington DC, among others.

Their 2013-14 season opened with the quartet's bi-annual residency at the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival and was then followed by a Carnegie Hall mainstage performance with the NY String Orchestra as well as returns to Philadelphia and one glorious performance of Schoenberg’s Verklarte Nacht with Grammy-winner Kim Kashkashian on viola and renowned cellist Marcy Rosen in Chattanooga. The four are working on recording the complete Brahms String Quartets.

A highlight of past seasons included the group’s collaboration with the fabled Guarneri String Quartet in a program featuring William Bolcom’s Octet: Double Quartet written for them and commissioned by the Music Accord consortium of presenters as well as a recently commissioned string quartet, Homunculus, written for the Johannes by Esa-Pekka Salonen.

The musicians' ability to communicate their passion for excellence has made season highlights of the Johannes Quartet’s work with students and audiences of all ages. Master classes, side-by-side quintet workshops and performances have been among the favorites at Middlebury College, Indiana and Denison Universities, the Curtis Institute (broadcast on WHYY Television) and the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, where they return biannually.