Attacca Quartet and American Repertory Ballet Perform Together at Princeton Festival

On Saturday, June 17, at 7 pm at the Princeton Festival, the two-time Grammy Award-Winning Attacca Quartet pairs with dancers from the American Repertory Ballet for an Evening of Contemporary Ballet. On the program are ballet excerpts from Circadia, choreographed by Caili Quan to the music of Gabriella Smith's Carrot Revolution, and Wood Work, choreographed by Ethan Stiefel to Nordic folk tunes arranged by the Danish String Quartet. Attacca Quartet will also be performing compositions by Pulitzer Prize-winning composers John Adams, Alleged Dances (II, IV), and Caroline Shaw, The Evergreen, from Shaw's Evergreen album, which won Attacca Quartet its 2023 Grammy Award. The event takes place in the Festival performance pavilion on the grounds of Morven Museum & Garden.

Two-time Grammy Award-winning Attacca Quartet is recognized and acclaimed as one of the most versatile and outstanding ensembles of the moment — a true quartet for modern times. In 2021, the quartet announced their exclusive signing to Sony Classical, releasing two albums, Real Life and Of All Joys, that embody their redefinition of what a string quartet can be. Passionate advocates of contemporary repertoire, the quartet is dedicated to presenting and recording new works, with two releases, Orange and Evergreen, in collaboration with Caroline Shaw, winning the 2020 and 2023 GRAMMY awards for Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance. The quartet continues to perform in the world's best venues and festivals, with highlights including Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Sala Sao Paolo, San Francisco Performances, Paris' Théâtre de la Ville, Palau de la Musica, Concertgebow Brugges, De Doelen, Kings Place, and Amsterdam's String Quartet Biennale.  

The Choreographers:

Caili Quan (Choreographer of Circadia) is a New York-based choreographer who danced with BalletX from 2013 to 2020. She has created works for BalletX, The Juilliard School, Vail Dance Festival, American Repertory Ballet, Flight Path Dance Project, Stars of American Ballet, Asbury Park Dance Festival, Oakland Ballet, Columbia Ballet Collaborative, and Ballet Academy East. She served as an Artistic Partnership Initiative Fellow and a Toulmin Creator at The Center for Ballet and the Arts at NYU. She participated in New York Choreographic Institute's 2022 Fall Session, under the direction of Adrian Danchig-Waring, creating a work on dancers from New York City Ballet. Caili was one of the 2022 Artists-in- Residence at the Vail Dance Festival and is a creative associate at The Juilliard School.

Ethan Stiefel (ARB Artistic Director, Choreographer of Wood Work) is an internationally renowned Dancer, Instructor, Coach, Director, and Choreographer. Stiefel became American Repertory Ballet's Artistic Director in July, 2021. In 1989, Stiefel began his professional career at age 16 with the New York City Ballet where he quickly rose to the rank of Principal Dancer. Stiefel was also a Principal Dancer with Ballett Zürich followed by being a Principal Dancer with American Ballet Theatre (ABT) from 1997- 2012. Stiefel has served as Dean of the School of Dance at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA) as well as the Artistic Director of the Royal New Zealand Ballet. As a choreographer, he has created new works for American Repertory Ballet, the Royal New Zealand Ballet, The Washington Ballet, ABT Studio Company, Northern Ballet (UK), The Royal Ballet School, among others. 

Tickets for the Attacca Quartet and American Repertory Ballet performance at Morven Museum and Garden start at $15, youths 5-17 receive a 50% discount with an adult purchase. For additional information or to purchase tickets, visit princetonsymphony.org/festival or call (609) 497-0020.

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