In various iterations, the Ames Piano Quartet has been the ensemble-in-residence at Iowa State University since its inception in 1976. One of the few regularly constituted piano quartets in the world, the Ames Quartet briefly became the Amara Quartet in 2012, upon the retirement of two of its long-term members. Wishing to reconnect with more than thirty years of tradition, the Quartet has now returned to its original name of Ames.

The Quartet has an extensive discography, including fourteen CDs under the Ames name and a further two as Amara. Labels for which the group has recorded include Musical Heritage, Dorian, Sono Luminus, Albany, and Fleur de Son Classics. “One finds critics writing of their commitment, passion, power, and sensitivity, not to mention their collective technical skills,” writes Robert Cummings on the AllMusic.com web site. Of their most recent release (Faure Piano Quartets) critic Huntley Dent writes in Fanfare magazine, “As to the performances on this release, the second by the Amaras on Fleur de Son, they equal the best in the catalogue...we get the two virtues that make for a superb chamber ensemble: each player has an individual voice, and the group as a whole expresses a unified musical conception.”

The Ames Quartet has appeared in concert throughout the United States and Canada, as well as in France, Austria, Taiwan, South Africa, and Russia. One of its most notable concert tours occurred in 2003 when it traveled to Cuba, the first American chamber ensemble to be invited to perform there since the country’s 1959 revolution. Radio appearances by the Quartet include “St. Paul Sunday,” “Music at First Hearing,” “The Listening Room,” and “Performance Today.”

The group has sought to expand the available repertoire for piano quartet, both by reviving unjustly neglected piano quartets of the past, and by commissioning new works. Two of the most Quartet’s most notable commissions are Lee Hoiby’s Dark Rosaleen, premiered in 2000, and George Tsontakis’ Piano Quartet #4, premiered in 2019. Members of the Ames Piano Quartet include Borivoj Martinic-Jercic, violin; Samantha Rodriguez, viola; George Work, cello; and Mei-Hsuan Huang, piano. The Quartet is represented by Joanne Rile Artists Management of Philadelphia.

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The Ames Piano Quartet is managed nationwide by Joanne Rile Artists Management
93 Old York Road
#222 Jenkintown Commons
Jenkintown, PA 19046-3925.