Alexander Quartet announces retirement

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The Alexander Quartet has announced its retirement after 44 years, following its final season in Spring 2025. The San Francisco-based US quartet was established in New York in 1981, and currently comprises violinists Zakarias Grafilo and Yuna Lee, violist David Samuel, and founding cellist Sandy Wilson.

The Alexander Quartet rose to prominence with competition wins, including the 1982 Concert Artists Guild Competition, and were the first American quartet to ever win the Portsmouth – later Wigmore – International String Quartet Competition in 1985. The quartet has since collaborated with many important figures in the music world, including Aaron Copland, George Crumb, Lynn Harrell, Midori, and Joyce DiDonato among many others. It has performed a number of global tours across Europe, as well as to Argentina, Panama, and the Philippines, and performed at venues such as the Lincoln Center, the Metropolitan Museum, and the Library of Congress.

Passionate about music education, the ensemble has served as quartet-in-residence at institutions including San Francisco State University, Allegheny College, and Baruch College. Quartets they have mentored include the Afiara Quartet, Tower Quartet, Del Sol Quartet, and the Hausmann Quartet.

Among its final season highlights, the Alexander Quartet will perform at the Beethoven Easter Festival in Poland, and will conclude residences at the Mondavi Center, St. Lawrence University, and San Francisco Performances.

‘We look forward to our final season, in which we will be revisiting several festive gatherings with some of our favourite and esteemed musical friends – both artists and presenters alike,’ said cellist Sandy Wilson. ‘We are fortunate to be able to cherish and share so many happy memories, gathered over more than four decades of collaborative music-making.’

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