US quartets win grants for new work

The Del Sol and JACK quartets are among the recipients of Chamber Music America's $170,700 classical commissioning programme for 2010. The Del Sol Quartet from San Francisco will use its award to commission a new work for string quartet and electronica by Mason Bates. New York composer Jason Eckhardt is to write a string quartet for the JACK Quartet. Another programme recipient is the New York-based Talea Ensemble, which has commissioned a work by John Zorn for violin, viola, two cellos, flute, clarinet, piano and percussion.