Albion Quartet
Quartet
Formed in 2016, the Albion Quartet brings together four of the UK’s exceptional young string players who are establishing themselves rapidly on the international stage.
Recent debuts include the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, the Auditorium du Louvre in Paris, the Wigmore Hall and Town Hall/Symphony Hall Birmingham. Their third highly acclaimed recording with Signum was released last season.
Recent and future engagements include appearances at the Wigmore Hall Livestream Series, at the Two Moors Festival in South-West England, on tour in Sweden, and in numerous chamber music series around England and Europe. Before the pandemic they performed at several festivals, including BBC Belfast International Arts Festival, Presteigne, Stratford, as well as returns to Oxford Lieder Festival and Kettle’s Yard Cambridge. The Albion Quartet also appeared at Wigmore Hall to perform the world premiere of a new string trio by Freya Waley-Cohen, commissioned by the Wigmore Hall.
Over the past seasons they have held a number of residencies, including King’s Place, Snape Maltings, Ryedale and Honeymead Festivals and the Sainte-Mère Festival in France. They also appeared at BBC Radio 3’s Hay Festival, Roland Pöntinen’s Båstad Chamber Music Festival in Sweden and at the Chapelle Musicale Reine Elisabeth in Brussels.
The ensemble’s creative curiosity has already led to collaborations with several composers: In spring 2019, they premiered a new work for soprano and string quartet by Kate Whitley at THSH Birmingham, and in June 2019 the world premiere of a new full-length quartet Dust by Freya Waley-Cohen at the Aldeburgh Festival. The Albion Quartet has also collaborated with renowned artists such as bass Matthew Rose at the Aldeburgh Festival 2016, violist Douglas Paterson of the Schubert Ensemble, Miguel da Silva, formerly the violist of the Ysaÿe Quartet and pianist Roland Pöntinen. In September 2018 they performed Whitacre’s Five Hebrew Melodies with the Martinů Voices at Kloster Corvey in Germany.
Passionate about education, the quartet held a residency at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama for several years, where they regularly gave masterclasses and performances in the Dora Stoutzker Hall. They were Quartet-in-Residence at Gresham’s School in the 2017/18 season, where they opened the new Britten Concert Hall in 2017. As a Cavatina Chamber Music Trust ensemble, they also give workshops at primary schools.
The quartet is recording a series of discs for Signum Records, including the string quartets of Antonin Dvořák as well as a disc of quartets by Walton and Shostakovich. They have also recorded Richard Blackford’s Kalon for string quartet and orchestra with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra.
The members of the quartet play on a fine collection of instruments, including a Stradivarius and Guarnerius.