The visionary and ravishingly realized performances of the internationally acclaimed Borromeo String Quartet have established it as one of the most important string quartets of our time. The Chicago Tribune calls the Borromeo "a remarkably accomplished string quartet, not simply for its high technical polish and refined tone, but more importantly for the searching musical insights it brings." The San Diego Reader calls their performances "a musical experience of luminous beauty," and the Boston Globe says "Each of the greatest string quartets has redefined what the possibilities of the medium are: through the perfection of its ensemble and intonation, through its poise and its passion, the Borromeos are recreating the medium anew and we are lucky to be here to hear it."

Since their explosive debut in 1989, the Borromeo have become one of the most sought-after strings quartets in the world, performing over 100 concerts of classical and contemporary literature across three continents each season. Audiences and critics alike champion their revealing explorations of Schoenberg, Brahms, Ligeti, Kurtag, and Janacek and affinity for making challenging contemporary repertoire approachable. Lauded for their absolute mastery of the complete Beethoven and Bartók quartet cycles, the ensemble is currently focused on the complete quartet cycle of Dimitri Shostakovich.

In 2003 the Borromeo made classical music history with its pioneering record label, the Living Archive Recorded Performance Series, making it is possible to order DVDs and CDs of most of its concerts around the world. The series promotes the impact of the live performance, and allows listeners the opportunity to revisit in greater depth the music they have just heard in concert, as well as explore the evolution of new and rarely performed works. Gramophone Magazine hailed the "great clarity and beauty" and "ravishing fury" of the BSQ's studio recording of masterworks by Beethoven, and their CD featuring works of Maurice Ravel was honored with the Chamber Music America/WQXR Award for Recording Excellence in 2001.

Formed in Stresa, Italy in 1989 by four young musicians from the Curtis Institute of Music, the Quartet studied as a group at the New England Conservatory of Music and immediately won international acclaim as the recipient of top prizes in the 1990 International String Quartet Competition in Evian, France. The following year, the ensemble won the Young Concert Artists International Auditions and made its New York and Washington debuts at the 92nd Street Y and the Kennedy Center, respectively. The Borromeo Quartet was awarded Chamber Music America's Cleveland Quartet Award in 1998 and received Lincoln Center's Martin E. Segal Award in 2001. Additional information may be found at www.borromeoquartet.com.