The Grammy-award winning Pacifica String Quartet played in Sebring-Lewis Hall on Thursday, April 7, drawing an impressive crowd of community members, students and professors.

The group began and ended their performance with F major quartets, the first by Beethoven and the finale by Dvorak. Between the two old favorites, the quartet played a contemporary piece entitled “Hunting Wuartet” by composer Jorg Widmann.

The ensemble’s remarkably expressive performance certainly paid tribute to both classic compositions as well as their contemporary counterpart. Their nuanced playing enabled the musicians to reflect the intended moods of the pieces, as demonstrated by their smooth transition between the bright spirit of Beethoven’s “Allegro con brio” and his somber “Adagio affettuoso et appassionato.”

First violinist Simin Ganatra shone in the Allegro, playing even the complex runs effortlessly. However, her bright overtones would be seriously lacking without the rich musicality of the other members of the quartet. As an ensemble, they complement each other well, falling together so accurately that their sudden unison silences are a kind of music too. The other members of the quartet were Simin Ganatra, violin, Sibbi Berhnhardsson, violin, Masumi Per Rostad, viola, and Brandon Vamos, cello.