Two-Time GRAMMY Award-Winning Attacca Quartet Pairs with American Repertory Ballet for an Evening of Contemporary Ballet



Ethan Stiefel’s Wood Work, photo by Eduardo Patino

(PRINCETON, NJ) — On Saturday, June 17, 2023 at 7:00pm, the Princeton Festival presents the two-time Grammy Award-Winning Attacca Quartet paired 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.

Attacca Quartet, photo by David Goddard

Attacca 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.

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.

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. 

Aldeir Monteiro and Ryoko Tanaka in Ethan Stiefel’s Wood Work, photo by Eduardo Patino

Programs, artists, dates, and times are subject to change.

The Princeton Festival is the Princeton Symphony Orchestra’s flagship summer program showcasing the performing arts. Founded in 2004, the Princeton Festival quickly established a reputation for artistic excellence and innovative programming. Every year in June, thousands of people from the mid-Atlantic region and beyond come to the Festival to enjoy the quality and variety of its programs. Offerings include opera, musical theater, dance, orchestra and chamber music, and a constantly evolving selection of other genres, including jazz, world music, choral concerts, and country music. The Festival has long-standing partnerships with public libraries and local churches, and promotes life-long learning in the arts through free educational lectures presented to a wide and diverse community. 

The Princeton Symphony Orchestra (PSO) is a cultural centerpiece of the Princeton community and one of New Jersey’s finest music organizations, a position established through performances of beloved masterworks, innovative music by living composers, and an extensive network of educational programs offered to area students free of charge. Led by Edward T. Cone Music Director Rossen Milanov, the PSO presents orchestral, pops, and chamber music programs of the highest artistic quality, supported by lectures and related events that supplement the concert experience. Its flagship summer program the Princeton Festival brings an array of performing arts and artists to Princeton during multiple weeks in June. Through PSO BRAVO!, the orchestra produces wide-reaching and impactful education programs in partnership with local schools and arts organizations that culminate in students attending a live orchestral performance. The PSO receives considerable support from the Princeton community and the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, regularly garnering NJSCA’s highest honor. Recognition of engaging residencies and concerts has come from the National Endowment for the Arts, and the PSO’s commitment to new music has been acknowledged with an ASCAP Award for Adventurous Programming and a Copland Fund Award. The only independent, professional orchestra to make its home in Princeton, the PSO performs at historic Richardson Auditorium on the campus of Princeton University.