Latest news from the Carducci Quartet!
What's new! - 17/08/10 We have just returned from a fabulous trip to America, giving concerts at the Chautauqua Institution and Princeton University. Both have amazing auditoriums which were packed to the rafters and we must say a special thank you to our lovely hosts. We managed to squeeze in a visit to Niagara Falls and to save our instruments from a hotel fire, so all in all an action packed week.We must also say a very BIG thank you to everyone who sponsored us to run the Cork City Relay Marathon. Despite the torrential rain, it was a surprisingly enjoyable experience (!) and over £1000 was raised for CICS. The following day (and with a few aches and pains) we gave a recital at Farahy Church, the resting place of Elizabeth Bowen. It is an intimate and glorious Church with candles instead of electricity and one that we delight in going back to. 
Our fourth festival at Highnam was a fantastic weekend, with clear blue skies, record audiences and wonderful guest artists. A big thank you to everyone who came and to all the helpers and we look forward to seeing you at Highnam next year. We also had an amazing three week tour of the USA with bases in San Fransisco, New York and LA. It was great to make some return visits to concert series and see familiar faces. Other highlights included dinner at Nobel Laureate Dr James Watson's house following a concert at Cold Spring Harbour and a sold out performance for the "Live At The Lounge" series at Hermosa Beach, LA, with pianist and artistic director Yana Reznik. An impromptu appearance and performance by Midori at the end of the evening was awe-inspiring. On a slightly different note, we are all in training for our first quartet marathon. We are donning our running gear and pounding the streets for the 2010 Cork City Relay Marathon on June 7th in aid of CICS, a wonderful charity and one very dear to our hearts. For more information about the charity see:
10/04/10 Here, there and everywhere
Between rehearsals at Beaumont - France Photo by Ludivine Auger 26/02/10 Up North! We seemed to spend the month of February moving gradually further and further north! We had a great weekend coaching for the London String Quartet Foundation at Chethams School of Music in Manchester. We had a brief tour including concerts in Yorkshire and Teesside and then had a two-week tour of Scotland. We were incredibly lucky that the roads were kept in such good condition, as the tour involved driving through the spectacular snowy highlands on more than one occasion! 31/01/10 Wigmore Hall 10/12/09 Around the world! Not long after arriving back in the UK we were off again on a two-week cruise organised by Kirker Holidays. We had some undulating concerts on the stormy seas going through the Bay of Biscay but once we reached the other side we had a fantastic time, taking in stops at the Canary Islands, Morocco and Portugal. From the cruise we made our way to Ireland for some concerts and education work just before Christmas! 
01/06/09 - Highnam Festival 2009In May we had our third Carducci Festival at Highnam, Gloucestershire and it was a great success! There was a fantastic turnout for all events and the weather (for the most part) was quite nice. This year we were joined by two wonderful musicians, cellist Gemma Rosefield and violist Simon Rowland-Jones, both of whom not only performed beautifully, but also gave inspirational masterclasses to some young students. In the run-up to the festival we performed workshops in local schools and during the weekend we performed a family concert, getting parents and children involved. We're already excitedly planning for next year and can't wait! Save the dates! 21-23rd May 2010.
We had a fantastic second US tour, playing concerts in New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Florida. The highlight of the tour was undoubtedly our Carnegie Hall debut, which was an amazing experience and certainly one we won’t forget (here’s a picture of our rehearsal!). This was also little Evie’s first tour and she is already showing signs of being a natural globetrotter! Shortly after arriving back in the UK we performed at the first Greenwich International String Quartet Festival, which took place in the wonderful grounds of the Old Royal Naval College. There was a real sense of excitement about the festival and we thoroughly enjoyed the concerts, both as performers and audience members. We concluded our first year of residency at Cardiff University with a final concert and the following day we worked with the composition students on quartets they are currently writing. This is always a very interesting exercise and the standard of compositions was extremely high. This season we also had our first performance in Kings Place, London. The entire building and facilities are beautifully done and we particularly loved performing in the concert hall. 
7/3/09 Arrivals and Departures!Michelle and Eoin are thrilled to announce the arrival of little Evie Schmidt-Martin. She’s doing really well and her long fingers have already sparked the debate about which instrument she should play! Only three weeks after giving birth Michelle has arrived back to a jam-packed schedule and in late March we will all be departing for our second US tour, the highlight of which will be our Carnegie Hall debut! Evie has her passport already and can’t wait.
15/2/09 Four World Premieres! The Carducci Quartet are very excited to be performing four world premieres in 2009. First up is a new string quartet by the Chinese American composer Huang Ruo, for their Carnegie Hall debut on 31st March, in association with the Concert Artist Guild.
On June 17th the Carducci Quartet are thrilled to be performing the world premiere of a new commission, David Matthews' String Quartet No.11. They performed his String Quartet No.10 at the Wigmore Hall to critical acclaim and are delighted to be giving the first performance of his new quartet in London at the 'Proms at St. Judes'.
Next up is a new quartet by Adrian Williams, to be performed at the Presteigne Festival in Wales on the 30th August and finally the Carduccis will join forces with the Brodowski Quartet for the premiere of a new string octet by Simon Rowland-Jones at the North Norfolk Music Festival on Sept 12th. This exciting addition to the octet repertoire will receive it's second performance at the Wigmore Hall on Oct 9th.
Other performances of works by contemporary composers include:
27/11/08 USA and new residenciesWe've recently returned from our first major concert tour of the USA, starting with a warm 85 degrees in San Francisco, then making our New York debut at 'Symphony Space', and ending with a foot of snow in Buffalo! We are excited to be returning in March for our Carnegie Hall debut. We hope to see you there!! Also this term we've begun 2 exciting new residencies, at Cardiff University, where we'll be working with composition students and performing the complete Bartok Quartets and at Trinity College of Music in London, where we will give masterclasses and coaching. 
28/08/08 Summer news!We’ve had an eventful summer with performances at festivals around the UK including Nairn in Scotland, Lower Machen in Wales and Port Erin on the Isle of Man (which was broadcast by BBC Radio 3). In his anniversary year, we’ve also enjoyed giving performances of both the Vaughan Williams string quartets, at the English Music Festival, the Hampstead and Highgate Festival and then in Woodbridge and Cratfield.
29/05/08 New residency announced at Cardiff University!(From recent press release!) AWARD WINNING QUARTET TO BE CARDIFF UNIVERSITY RESIDENT ENSEMBLE Cardiff University’s School of Music is thrilled to announce that the award winning Carducci Quartet will be their resident ensemble from October 2008. During the residency the quartet will continue to build on their reputation for educational work and will undertake a series of workshops at the University. Prize winners in no less than 7 International Chamber Music, the Carducci Quartet has quickly become recognised as one of Europe's top young string quartets, recently winning the Concert Artists Guild International Competition in New York a part of the prize for which will see them giving their first concert at Carnegie Hall later this year. Other prizes include 1st prize at the 2004 Kuhmo International Chamber Music Competition in Finland, winners of the special prize for “Communication & Culture” at the 2005 Bordeaux International String Quartet Competition and winners of the Jury prize at the 2006 London International String Quartet Competition. They were also recently shortlisted for a Royal Philharmonic Society Award in the chamber music category.
03/04/08 RPS shortlisting and new residency!We're very excited to announce that we've been shortlisted in the Chamber Music Category for the Royal Philharmonic Society Awards this year. We look forward to the awards ceremony at the Dorchester in London on the 15th May! We're also pleased to announce a new residency starting this month! April 21st will see the first day of our residency at the Gloucester Academy of Music, working with young musicians from throughout Gloucestershire. We'll perform our first concert alongside the students on the 23rd April at Leonard Stanley Priory. For more details and the press release click here. 
02/03/08 Exciting New Education ProjectsFebruary was a busy month for us, beginning with a concert at Wigmore Hall in their Coffee Concerts series. We played a programme of Haydn and Dvorak quartets to a packed hall and really enjoyed the occasion. Later that day we visited Swiss Cottage Library to take part in a new series of family concerts, sponsored by the Cavatina Chamber Music Trust (See picture on left). The trust creates fantastic opportunities in introducing chamber music to children and this new series has been extremely popular with young and old. Last weekend we were at Chetham's School of Music in Manchester for the first National Young String Quartet Weekend, an event jointly created by Chetham's and the London String Quartet Foundation. There were a total of 10 young quartets from all over the country, each of whom were coached by Levon Chilingirian, Simon Rowland-Jones, Graham Oppenheimer, Nicholas Jones and ourselves. The weekend was jam-packed with lessons, workshops and performances and was a resounding success. 
26/01/08 Workshops, Wigmore & Winter Weather!November was a busy month for us. We spent two weeks bringing chamber music to schools around County Cork in Ireland, in a series of workshops run by West Cork Music. In total, we visited 21 schools and great fun was had by all! In December we were back at Wigmore Hall to take part in a celebration of the music of British composer Bernard Stevens (1916-1983), pictured left. Since his death in 1983, his works have attracted growing admiration for their power, accessibility, beauty and consummate musicianship. We performed his ‘Theme & Variations’ for String Quartet, a stunning work, which we very much enjoyed. 2008 began with a concert at Conway Hall, London, featuring clarinet quintets by Finzi and Brahms. That was soon followed by an evening at Trinity College of Music where we coached some of the young quartets on music by Beethoven and Schubert. Then it was off to Scotland, where we had mini tour, ending up with a concert at the magnificent St Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh. All in all, 2008 has got off to a good start! 
26/10/07 Carducci Quartet win in USA!The Carducci Quartet has won the 2007 Concert Artists Guild International Competition in the USA. Following two rigorous auditions in New York, the quartet was chosen from over 350 original applicants. They will receive prizes including a debut concert at the Carnegie Hall and a comprehensive management and marketing programme with CAG, including recording and commissioning opportunities. They will tour the USA for the first time next autumn. 
15/10/07 Richard Carne Junior FellowshipWe are very excited to have started our Richard Carne Junior Fellowship at Trinity College of Music in London. It's great for us to carry on our relationship with TCM this year, giving concerts and masterclasses to students. TCM has an amazing site in Greenwich (by the river) and is an inspiring place to study and work! 
23/09/07 Irish Tour & FestivalsWe were delighted when violinist, Catherine Leonard, invited us to perform three concerts at Kilkenny Festival last month. It was a lovely week and we so much enjoyed working with Julius Drake, Nicholas Daniel, Ani Aznivoorian and Jennifer Stumm. We embarked on an Irish Tour, promoted by Music Network, early this month. We travelled throughout the country, giving five performances in total. Then we headed for Cork, home for Michelle and Eoin, where we had our first opportunity to set foot inside the brand new, state of the art, Cork School of Music, which must surely now be the envy of all Europe's music colleges. The building is fantastic and the Curtis Auditorium is absolutely wonderful. It was here that our performances at the Carducci Quartet Festival were held. We were thrilled when the Cork School of Music's director, Dr Geoffrey Spratt, appointed us as the school's new String Quartet in Residence. We are very much looking forward to beginning our work there. 
1/9/07 Graham Whettam has sadly died just short of his 80th birthday.We were first introduced to Graham Whettam when we were still students. Christine Talbot-Cooper, a staunch supporter of both our quartet and of Graham’s music invited us to perform his String Quartet No.1 alongside a performance of “Rising Moon” his vocal work which shares common thematic material. Whilst learning the work, we were immediately struck by its intensity and beauty and also thrived on the challenge of the vigorous presto unison passages. A week before the concert, Graham came to meet us and hear a run through. It was the first time that we had met a “real life” composer as a quartet but Graham’s larger than life personality and brilliant sense of humour turned what could have been a nerve wracking experience into a thoroughly entertaining and highly memorable occasion. Over the years, we have continued to perform Graham’s music giving the world premier of his String Quartet No.4 and the first performance of the revised version of his first quartet for the Cheltenham International Festival in 2002. The week before his death, we were lucky enough to perform his String Quartet No.1 at the Three Choirs Festival. The concert coincided with the release of a CD of his String Quartets No.s 1 and 4 and his wonderful Oboe Quartet No.2 with Jennie Lee-Keetley, that we recorded earlier this year. It was fantastic that Graham was able to attend the concert and the positive reaction to his music was a testament to his talent. For more information about Graham and his vast compositional output, please go to www.meridenmusic.co.uk 
24/07/07 Collaborations and Verbier!June and July have been extremely busy months this year with some exciting new collaborations. Firstly we gave a performance of a rarely performed work - Warlock's 'Curlew', with Mark Chaundy (tenor), Claire Cobley (flute) and Jennie Lee-Keetley (cor anglais) at the Ludlow Weekend of English Song, followed by two performances of the Mozart and Brahms Clarinet Quintets with Julian Bliss in Guildford. We also gave four concerts at this years 'Second Glance' Contemporary Music Festival in London, performing works by Joe Duddell, Michael Finnissy, Michael Zev Gordon, Kenneth Hesketh, György Kurtág, David Matthews, Anthony Powers, Michael Stimpson, and Ian Wilson (amongst others!). Mid-July saw us in the mountains - at the Verbier Festival in Switzerland. We had an enjoyable week coaching and performing during the Amateur Chamber Music Week, amidst some stunning scenery...
04/06/07 Our First FestivalWe began May with a tour of the Channel Islands. This was our first time there and we loved exploring each unique island and getting to know the locals! We then flew to Spain for concerts in Ourense and Vigo, arriving back just in time for our first festival in Gloucestershire. The Carducci Festival at Highnam was held from 11-13 May at Highnam's beautiful 'Church of the Holy Innocents' and the stunning Highnam Court. It was a great success, with full houses at every concert, and to all who helped with the organisation and running of the festival we are very grateful! Plans for next year's festival are already underway so watch this space... 
01/05/07 Students, young and old!We spent a very enjoyable Easter weekend in the beautiful town of Streatly, where we performed two concerts for Music at Leisure. Then we headed to France for our chamber music course at Beaumont. This was the largest group yet and for the first time, we had some Irish and Belgian students along. As always, we had a fantastic time and the young musicians really excelled themselves. Shortly after, we were at Dartington, this time coaching young kids. This was their first introduction to chamber music and we were amazed at how quickly they picked things up! Later on in April we visited Cardiff University, where we had a workshop working alongside the advanced composition students. It was a very interesting experience for us and we hope it was useful for the young composers. 
03/04/07 Quartet travel EuropeMarch was an exciting month for us! We had our first tour of Ireland, performing six concerts around the country, including the National Concert Hall, Dublin, and Fota House, Cork. We were delighted with the warm response from the audiences and look forward to our next Irish tour in September, which will be organised by Music Network. We had another great experience performing at Wigmore Hall, this time with pianist Nicola Eimer, followed quickly by a trip to Paris, where we had an inspiring few days of study with Valentin Erben of the Alban Berg Quartet. From there, we flew directly to Budapest to perform with the Katona Twins in the Budapest Spring Festival. Luckily we had some time to explore this beautiful city, which is full of wonderful old buildings, including the stunning HAS Ceremonial Hall (pictured above), where our concert was held. 
01/03/07 Aldeburgh ResidencyIn February, we had a fantastic residency in Aldeburgh. This was a wonderful opportunity to spend three weeks in one place (with the exception of a quick trip to Munich!). We were able to work intensively on some new repertoire with the help of Hugh Maguire and Alasdair Tait and we gave a number of performances in Jubilee Hall and other venues in the surrounding area. We also managed to fit in a few walks on the beach and one or two fish & chip suppers! What a beautiful place and a memorable time. 
14/02/07 Carducci Classics is launched!The Carducci quartet have launched their own record label 'Carducci Classics', with a debut CD of three great Haydn quartets, including the 'Frog' and 'Fifths'. The CD is available to buy through our website and will shortly be available digitally from ITunes and Napster, amongst others. Three other recording projects will follow in 2007 under the 'Carducci Classics' label. The Carduccis will be recording the quartets of J. Horovitz (including the oboe quartet with Nicholas Daniel), the quartets of G. Whettam and the complete quartets of B. Boydell. 
20/01/07 Michelle and Eoin's wedding!Michelle and Eoin's wedding took place in Killarney Cathedral, Ireland just after Christmas. It was a fantastic occasion and many musician friends joined forces to play during the ceremony. Their performance of Telemann's viola concerto with Simon Aspell of the Vanbrugh Quartet was particularly moving as Michelle walked up the aisle. As expected, Michelle looked stunning and Eoin's rendition of Frank Sinatra's "I've got you under my skin", during the reception will forever stay in the memory. After a short honeymoon in Vienna, (waltzing on new year's eve!), it was back to work with a 12 day Scottish tour. Thank you to all the music clubs for their warm welcome and Charlie was particularly delighted by his first experience of snow!
30/12/06 Wigmore Debut 
1/10/06 New addition to the Carducci Quartet!Matt and Emma have become parents for the first time after the arrival of Charlie John on September 22nd. Apart from the lack of sleep, all three are doing well. From the middle of October Charlie will sometimes be joining the quartet on the road (with Granny in tow!). Early trips in the car have proved successful and Charlie tends to fall asleep at the first sounds of classical music - so far so good! 
26/7/06 Summer FestivalsOur summer festival season started with a week at the West Cork Chamber Music Festival in the magnificent setting of Bantry House (pictured). We were fortunate enough to work with some amazing artists including Patricia Rozario, Charles Owen and Gillian McDonagh in a performance of Tavener's Schuon Lieder. A particular highlight was playing Britten's Phantasy Oboe Quartet with Nicholas Daniel (and the champagne and oysters that followed!). With a minimum of four concerts a day there was also plenty of opportunity to listen to some inspiring music-making, and each evening the audience and artists would descend on the local pub to digest the day's music making over a few drinks. Then it was on to Luberon in the south of France where we were quartet in residence for the opening week of the Festival International De Quatuors A Cordes. The concerts took place in local churches and at the breath-taking Abbaye de Silvacane. Despite the intense heat we managed to fit in a Carducci mini-golf tournament which Matt managed to win by one point! The following day we flew on to Porto for the Festival Internacional de Música da Póvoa de Varzim. Our concert 'Turning Point Paris' saw us join forces with the Katona Guitar Duo and Daniel Storer on Bass for a programme of Piazzolla, Ravel and de Falla. With a start time of 9.45pm it was midnight by the time we'd finished the concert and even then we couldn't get away as we had a long queue of autograph hunters outside the dressing room! 14/05/06 Nemours and Fontainebleau We've just returned from France where we gave a concert organised by ProQuartet. We performed an evening recital in the Musée de Préhistoire in Nemours and had an interesting moment during rehearsal when a electrical storm caused a power cut - we were left sitting in the dark surrounded by Neandertal bones!We were put up overnight in the wonderful home of Mr & Mme Heyberger in nearby Fontainebleau. (A new European center for chamber music is to be established there in part of the famous Chateau - see picture!)This week in London we're giving a Cavatina concert in a local primary school (hopefully to inspire a new generation of chamber music fans!) and then the final concert of the Second Glance Festival in Bolivar Hall. We'll be performing a piano quintet by David Matthews with festival director Mark Troop at the piano and a short quartet by John Woolrich called 'In the Stones'. We hope to see you there! 10/01/06 New Year - Ballinskelligs to the South Bank! At the beginning of January we spent a wonderful few days rehearsing in Ballinskelligs, County Kerry - Ireland (excellent preparation for future concerts!). Back in London on the 9th and despite the tube strike there was a great turn out for our Purcell Room concert. A big thank you to all those who supported us. It was great to see so many familiar faces in the audience and to catch up over a few drinks afterwards!The concert went very well and we particularly enjoyed performing the works of Zev Gordon and Horovitz, who were both present.
Working with Kurtag in Paris proved to be an incredible experience. We spent four and a half hours working on about six minutes of music! He encouraged us to think about the importance of every single note. He also made a few changes to the score and was constantly asking us to experiment with different sounds and playing techniques. Despite turning eighty next year his energy is extraordinary - at one point throwing himself on the floor and crawling along in anguish to make a musical point! Michelle and Eoin flew directly back to Ireland for Christmas whilst Matt and Emma returned to london. It has been a busy few months and we can't relax just yet - there's only one day left to do all our christmas shopping - wish us luck! Seasons greetings from us all! Note on Kurtag 3/12/05 Eoin and Michelle to get married! Eoin and Michelle have finalised arrangements to be married at Christmas next year back in their native Ireland. A host of friends and family will be coming together to celebrate their special day in the beautiful town of Killarney. Having been through it all before, Emma and Matt have plenty of help and advice for the bride and groom to be! 10/11/05 Working with Composers! Have just spoken to Michael Zev Gordon, the featuredcomposer of the Park Lane Series, about the piece heis writing for us. It will be in three shortmovements and he hopes to finish it soon! He says thatStravinsky is a big influence of his so that gives ussome idea about what to expect. One of the greatthings about doing this concert is the chance it hasgiven us to work with the composers. We will beplaying to Kurtag in Paris in a few weeks and we havealready been in contact with Horovitz. Exciting times! 10/10/05 Carducci's to open PLG Series We are very excited to have been chosen to open the 50thanniversary Park Lane Series on January 9th 2006 in the Purcell Room in London. The programme, (which will certainly be a challenging one!)has just been finalised and will be Kurtag - Six moments musicaux, Dutilleux - Ainsi la nuit, aworld premier of a quartet by Michael Zev-Gordon andHorovitz - String Quartet no.5 - phew!! Everyone is incelebratory mood as Kurtag and Horovitz turn 80 nextyear and Dutilleux 90. It would be great to get as much support as possible for this important concert! |
New Carducci Classics CD - Brian Boydell : The Complete String Quartets
10/09/09 Summer Festivals!
12/05/09 New Ventures!
In mid-July we travelled down to the south of France for a concert at Notre Dame de Brusc near Nice, and then three concerts at the Luberon Quartet Festival. The warm weather inspired some pool-side rehearsals (see picture above!) and we were thrilled to be part of an exciting collaboration – a quintet with Sarod player and composer Wajahat Khan.
23/11/06 Carducci Quartet to work with Music Network, Ireland.