Chamber music fans can enjoy the radiant sounds of the Vermeer Quartet in their third concert of the 1990-91 season tonight.

The performance is at 8 p.m. in the Boutell Memorial Concert Hall in the Music Building. The concert is free and open to the public.

The Vermeer Quartet has achieved international status as one of the world’s finest chamber music ensembles. The quartet has performed in many major cities throughout North America, Europe, and Australia.

The members of the quartet are on the Resident Artist Faculty at NIU, and give annual classes at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, England.

The Vermeer members are originally from Israel, Canada, New York, and Nebraska, giving them a unique blend of musical and cultural backgrounds.

Schmuel Ashkenasi, violin, studied with Efram Zimbalist at the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia. He was the winner of the Merriweather Post Competition, a finalist in the Queen Elisabeth Competition, and second prize winner in the Tchaikovsky Competition.

Pierre Menard, violin, studied at the Quebec Conservatory with Calvin Sieb, and at Juilliard School of Music with the Juilliard Quartet, among others.

Menard has received numerous awards, including the Prix d’Europe from the government of Quebec, and first prize in the National Festival of Music Competition in Canada.

Richard Young, viola, studied with Josef Gingold, Zoltan Szekely and others. At 13, he was invited to perform for Queen Elisabeth of Belgium. A special award winner in the Rockefeller Foundation American Music Competition, he was a member of both the New Hungarian Quartet and the Rogeri Trio.

Marc Johnson, cello, studied at Indiana University with Janos Starker, among others. While a student there, Johnson was the youngest member of the Rochester Philharmonic.

In addition to numerous awards, Johnson won first prize in the prestigious Washington International Competition.

The program for the evening includes Quartet in A Major, Op.18, No.5 by Beethoven, and Quartet No.1 in E Minor, by Frank Bridge.

Dr. William Koehler, acting assistant chair of NIU’s school of music, is the guest pianist for Piano Quintet in A Major,Op. 81 by Dvorak.

Koehler was the first prize winner of the 1989 New Orleans International Piano Competition.

The quartet has recorded works by Beethoven, Dvorak, and Schubert among others for the Teldec label.