Haas in the Dark

JACK Quartet
JACK Quartet
LOS ANGELES PREMIERE
Buy tickets
Price
$20
Genre
Music
Season
Winter/Spring 2026
DATE
APR 9
TIME
THU, 8 PM
RUNTIME
Approx. 75 minutes, no intermission
COUNTRY
USA
PROGRAM
Not yet available

About

JACK Quartet performs George Friedrich Haas’ visionary Third String Quartet—designed to be experienced in total darkness. As Haas wrote about this work, “The outline of one’s hand will ideally not be visible even when directly in front of their face. The darkness is absolute, and the effect is disorienting: an audience member feels they have become absorbed in a level of blackness with no visual cues to demarcate the size and shape of the space or their relation to it.” JACK Quartet, the foremost interpreters of Haas’ work, surround the audience in this unique performance of his String Quartet No. 3,  “in iij Noct.” Part of the Body and Sound festival organized by LA Phil Insight and Liquid Music, this performance uniquely considers how senses shape perception of music in an unconventional concert experience in total darkness. 

There will be a post-show Q&A with JACK Quartet, moderated by REDCAT Deputy Director and Chief Curator, Performing Arts, Katy Dammers.

 

Attendees to Haas in the Dark may not enter the theater until they sign a mandatory waiver in person upon arrival that acknowledges their understanding that the performance is entirely in the dark and their assumption of risk for such a performance. The waiver can be previewed here. 

Please note there is no late seating and no reentry following the start of the performance. 

 

The JACK Quartet has long been a powerful voice for contemporary music, tackling the most challenging chamber repertoire with a combination of fluency and commitment

—

San Francisco Chronicle

LA Phil Insight is generously supported by Linda and David Shaheen.

 

about the artists

Comprising violinists Christopher Otto and Austin Wulliman, violist John Pickford Richards, and cellist Jay Campbell, JACK Quartet enters their third decade as a pioneering string quartet synchronized in their mission to create an international community through transformative, mind-broadening experiences and close listening. 

Nominated for two Grammy Awards, JACK Quartet has also been recognized for their contributions to the field with honors such as the Avery Fisher Career Grant, Fromm Music Foundation Prize, Musical America’s 2019 “Ensemble of the Year” Award, and New Music USA’s Trailblazer Award.

JACK Quartet has both self-commissioned and been commissioned to create new works with artists such as Philip Glass, Georg Friedrich Haas, Liza Lim, Caroline Shaw, and John Zorn, with upcoming and recent premieres by John Luther Adams, Ellen Fullman, Catherine Lamb, George Lewis, Andrew Norman, Terry Riley, Gabriella Smith, and Tyshawn Sorey.

JACK Quartet has performed to critical acclaim at venues such as Carnegie Hall (USA), Lincoln Center (USA), Library of Congress (USA), Berlin Philharmonie (Germany), BBC Proms (United Kingdom), Philharmonie de Paris (France), Salzburg Festival (Switzerland), La Biennale di Venezia (Italy), Sydney Opera House (Australia), Suntory Hall (Japan), Bali Arts Festival (Indonesia), Festival Internacional Cervantino (Mexico), and Teatro Colón (Argentina). 

JACK Quartet makes their home in New York City, where they are the Quartet-in-Residence at the Mannes School of Music at The New School.

cast & creative team

Jay Campbell, cello

Christopher Otto, violin 

John Pickford Richards, viola

Austin Wulliman, violin