Castalian String Quartet
The Castalian String Quartet makes their US debut with works by Haydn, Britten, and Schubert.
Program
The Castalian String Quartet (violinists Sini Simonen and Daniel Roberts, violist Charlotte Bonneton, and cellist Christopher Graves) is an exciting young ensemble that won First Prize in the Lyon International Chamber Music Competition in 2015. The Quartet made its Wigmore Hall debut in 2017 and in 2018 won the Merito String Quartet Award/Valentin Erben Prize. For their US debut, the Quartet will perform classics by Haydn (the Fifths Quartet, Op. 76) and Schubert (the Rosamunde Quartet in A minor) along with Britten’s String Quartet No. 2, composed in 1945 for a concert at Wigmore Hall to mark the 250th anniversary of Purcell’s death.
FRANZ JOSEPH HAYDN (1732-1809)
String Quartet in D minor “Fifths,” Hob.III:76; Op. 76 No. 2
BENJAMIN BRITTEN (1913-1976)
String Quartet No. 2 in C Major, Op. 36
INTERMISSION
FRANZ SCHUBERT (1797-1828)
String Quartet No. 13 in A minor “Rosamunde,” D804 (Op. 29)
About the Artists
The Castalian Quartet is rapidly emerging as an exciting voice on the international chamber music scene. In 2018, they received the prestigious inaugural Merito String Quartet Award & Valentin Erben Prize and won a Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship Award. Previous awards include 3rd Prize at the 2016 Banff International String Quartet Competition and 1st Prize at the 2015 Lyon International Chamber Music Competition. The Quartet was selected by Young Classical Artists Trust in 2016.
Engagements this season include return visits to Wigmore Hall, where they open the Coffee Concert series and perform the complete set of Haydn’s Op. 76 Quartets. They give recitals in Tel Aviv in the Museum of Art, Heidelberger Frühling Quartet Festival, Zwischentöne Festival in Engelberg, Neuchâtel Chamber Music in Switzerland, East Neuk Festival, and 3 Palaces Festival in Malta. Further afield they take part in the Banff Festival, and tour China and Colombia.
The Quartet continues to give recitals across the UK and undertake residencies at Saffron Hall, Stoller Hall (Manchester), Birmingham Conservatoire, and the Menuhin School. Future plans include debut concerts in the US (The Phillips Collection in Washington, DC and Lincoln Center) and at the Konzerthaus in Vienna.
Over the last two years the Quartet has performed widely throughout Europe, highlights including recitals in the Hamburg Chamber Music Series, International Musikfest Goslar, Sommerliche Musiktage Hitzacker, Quartet affairs in Frankfurt (broadcast by NDR), French festivals in Queille and Conques, the Aldeburgh, East Neuk, North Norfolk, and Peasmarsh Festivals. In 2017 they were resident at the Esbjerg International Chamber Music Festival in Denmark, Festival Musique d’Été à Suzette near Avignon, and Snape Maltings.
Formed in 2011, the Castalian Quartet studied with Oliver Wille (Kuss Quartet) at the Hannover University of Music, Drama and Media, graduating with a Master’s degree, and has also received coaching from Simon Rowland-Jones, David Waterman, and Isabel Charisius. The Quartet has collaborated with Nils Mönkemeyer, Alasdair Beatson, Simon Rowland-Jones, and Olivier Stankiewicz.