The Ysaÿe Quartet will wrap up Lee University’s 2011-12 Presidential Concert Series with a performance on Wednesday, Feb. 29 at 7:30 p.m. in the Squires Recital Hall.

The quartet, often labeled as one of Europe’s finest ensembles, was formed in l984 while its members were students at the Paris Conservatoire, and is named after violinist and composer Eugene Ysaÿe (1858-1931) who was a powerful influence in advancement of chamber music in France.

The Ysaÿe Quartet gained international recognition when it became the first French quartet ever to win the Grand Prize at the Evian International String Quartet Competition in 1988. They appear regularly in the US, Asia, and throughout Europe.

The Strad, a monthly classical music magazine about string instruments, called the quartet’s sound “lustrously large…their interpretative unity remarkable.”

In 2003 the Ysaÿe Quartet founded its own record label, and their most recent releases feature repertoire by Haydn, Schumann, Mozart, Faurè, Beethoven and Franck.

The members of the Ysaÿe Quartet are on the faculty of the Conservatoire Supérieur de Musique de Paris, where they have established a special class for string quartets.

Tickets will be available at the Lee University Box Office in the Dixon Center, or by phone at (423) 614-8343, one week prior to the concert between 3-6 p.m.

For more information on this or upcoming musical events contact the School of Music at (423) 614-8240 or email [email protected]. For more information on the Ysaÿe Quartet, click Ysaye.