"Those indispensable pillars of British musical life, the Chilingirian Quartet"
"This is the playing of an expert ensemble, and it is refreshing in its skill, fluency and energy."
The Times
Gramophone
Latest News: 2007/08 season
The Quartet's summer was full of exciting collaborations. In the Casals Festival in Prades, France, mezzo-soprano Charlotte Hellekant joined us in Hindeith's "Die Junge Magt" and Respighi's "Il Tramonto", both new to our repertoire and pieces we would love to repeat with this marvellous singer. There were other performances with Andras Adorjan, Andre Cazalet, Michel Lethiec, Arto Noras and Amaury Wallez.
In the Santander Festival, Spanish Radio broadcast a programme of Beethoven, Schubert and local composer Juan Jose Mier's second quartet.
In August the first CD in the complete Mozart Quintet Cycle was released by CRD (K's 174 and 515) and the DVDs of Beethoven's opus 18 quartets are almost ready for release!
Back from a short, but refreshing holiday, the Quartet has already played its opening concert as resident ensemble of the Royal College of Music, joined by faculty heads Janet Hilton (clarinet) and Nigel Black (horn) as well as students Amy Harman (bassoon) and Carina Cosgrave (bass).
The Chilingirian is particularly pleased to be invited by Peter Cropper to give concerts for Music In the Round in England. An exciting programme of Haydn, Bartok and Schubert will take the Quartet to Portsmouth, Milton Keynes, Scarborough, Dartington, Warwick, Gateshead, Shrewsbury, Rutland and Newcastle-under-Lyne.
At the beginning of November, the RDS has invited the Quartet back to perform two concerts and share an evening with pianist Finghin Collins. Later that month, Liverpool celebrates the music of an old friend of the city and of the Chilingirians -- Hugh Wood. A performance of Serenade and Elegy with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic will be followed by the world premiere of his clarinet quintet with Nicholas Cox. This is the third work we have commissioned and our friendship goes back to 1973, when Hugh was lecturer and we were appointed resident ensemble at Liverpool University. His music is exciting, deeply felt and very expressive. We look forward to its London premiere at the Conway Hall in April 2008.
The Quartet has three Wigmore hall concerts. To celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Cyprus-based Pharos Trust, we join the distinguished cellist David Geringas in the famous Boccherini Quintet in January, followed by a coffee morning in March and a concert to present music by Peter Fribbins in July. The Wigmore Hall is our favourite London venue and we are delighted to be presenting such a varied repertoire there.
A mini-series in Hove (October and March) is complemented by a visit to the Jacqueline De Pre Hall in Oxford (March).
The Russe Festival in Bulgaria has presented the opportunity to play a quintet with the highly-talented young pianist Sarkis Zakarian.
In April we will play all Beethoven's late quartets and join legendary clarinettist Gervaise De Peyer in quintets at the Orpheus and Bacchus Festival near St. Emillion.
The summer begins with a Norwegian cruise of two weeks in June, calling in on Grieg's House in Bergen and also Tromso and Trondheim. This is the first cruise we have undertaken and we are looking forward to it enormously!
The Carinthian Festival is presenting a tribute to John Tavener in July and Patricia Rozario will join the quartet in the Ahmatova songs. The Rhinegau Festival follows soon after with music by Haydn and Mozart.
Our 26th annual Chamber Music course at West Dean College, where student, young professional and amateur quartets have always been welcome (July) is set in stunning Sussex countryside. We also host regular study days throughout the year where we talk about pieces such as Schubert's G major (October 7th), Bartok's 4th (January 14th) and Hugh Wood's clarinet quintet (April 12th).
August takes us to Ambleside as the Resident Quartet of the Lake District Summer Music Festival. Here we combine teaching of chamber music with performances throughout the area.
STOP PRESS
From January 2008, Charles has been appointed as head of strings at the Purcell School in London. This, however, is a demanding and full-time position and sadly, the Quartet will be saying goodby to him at the end of December. Charles has been a wonderful member of the Quartet for 16 years and his humour, mastery of many languages and practical advice will be very much missed. We wish him well on this new and exciting move in his career.
We are delighted to announce that Richard Ireland has agreed to join the Chilingirian as of January 2008. A vastly experienced performer and teacher, Richard will be familiar to many of you. His biography follows.