The CLEVELAND QUARTET, originally made up of Donald Weilerstein and Peter Salaff, violins, Martha Strongin Katz, viola, and Paul Katz, cello, was the first in-residence string quartet at the CLEVELAND INSTITUTE OF MUSIC. When CIM director VICTOR BABIN secured funding for an in-residence string quartet, he appointed institute instructor Weilerstein as its first violin and charged him with finding candidates for the group. Weilerstein formed the ensemble in 1969 at a time when all 4 members were residents at the music school in Marlboro, VT. Known originally as the New Cleveland Quartet, the group made its debut that summer at Marlboro and was invited to become the resident quartet at CIM. After 2 years of residency at CIM, a disagreement in 1971 with the institute over teaching loads resulted in the group's moving to the Univ. of New York at Buffalo. Here they dropped the New from their name, becoming the Cleveland Quartet. In 1976 the quartet was appointed the resident quartet at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY. In 1980 Atar Arad replaced Martha Katz. William Preucil, formerly concertmaster of the Atlanta Symphony, replaced first violinist Weilerstein in 1989. The quartet's repertory, in addition to the standard classical repertory, includes works by Brahms, Mendelssohn, Debussy, Bartok, Ives, and Slominsky, many of which it has recorded for the Cleveland-based record label of TELARC INTL. Members of the ensemble announced their agreement to disband in the fall of 1995, following the appointment of Preucil to the position of concertmaster of the CLEVELAND ORCHESTRA.
"Togetherness: Herbert Glass in Conversation with the Cleveland Quartet," Gramophone (1993).