Pro Arte Quartet

Founded at the Brussels Conservatory in 1912, the Pro Arte Quartet (PAQ) became one of Europe’s most celebrated ensembles, named Court Quartet to the Queen.  PAQ attracted the attention of notable composers, among them Bartók, who dedicated his fourth quartet to PAQ, and Barber, whose Op. 11 (“Adagio for Strings”) PAQ premiered. Stranded in the U.S. when Nazi forces invaded Belgium in 1940, PAQ was offered residency at the University of Wisconsin, where it has remained since. PAQ remains one of the world’s most distinguished quartets, and the first and only one to reach its centennial anniversary, celebrated with great fanfare around the commissioning of six new works. Its history was published in a 2017 book (John Barker).