Barbirolli Quartet
Rakhi Singh (violin), Katie Stillman (violin), Alexandros Koustas (viola), Ashok Klouda (cello)
The Barbirolli Quartet holds an international reputation for its diverse, prolific repertoire and dynamic approach to performance.
Following their selection by the European Concert Halls Organisation (ECHO) as the UK Concert Halls' nominated 'Rising Stars' 09-10, the Barbirolli Quartet toured the major concert halls of Europe, with performances in Birmingham, Paris, Barcelona, Luxembourg, Vienna, Salzburg, Athens, Stockholm, Cologne, Brussels, Amsterdam, Hamburg and Baden-Baden. 2010 also included a return to Amsterdam's Concertgebouw, as part of the Stichting Kamermuziek Festival, and their Kirckman Concert Society recital at the Wigmore Hall.
This season's highlights include a series of concerts at the Verbier, Aldeburgh and Aix-en-Provence festivals, performing Francisco Coll Garcia's new work, co-commissioned by the three organisations. Other performances in 2011 include the Mananan International Festival, the Lincolnshire International Chamber Music Festival, Septembre Musical Montreux Festival and the quartet’s debut at Kings Place, London, for the London Chamber Music Society.
The Barbirolli Quartet has performed throughout the UK at venues such as St David's Hall Cardiff, Bridgewater Hall, the Purcell Room and Wigmore Hall, and has been selected for numerous concert schemes such as the Countess of Munster Musical Trust Recital Scheme, the Tunnell Trust Music Club Awards Scheme and the PLG Young Artists New Year Series. Following their highly successful appearance at the Cheltenham Festival in 2008, the quartet returned in 2009 with a collaborative performance alongside the Australian String Quartet. They have also appeared at the Lichfield, Buxton, Ryedale and Harrogate festivals and regularly perform at the Dartington International Summer School, where in 2010 they performed the Brahms Quintet with Stephen Kovacevich. Through the support of the Royal Over-Seas League, they performed in the 2009 Edinburgh Fringe Festival and toured Singapore, New Zealand and Australia, giving concerts and adjudicating the Pettman/ROSL Arts International Scholarship.
The Barbirolli Quartet brings together a wealth of experience, its founding members each having performed widely in their native countries of Canada, Wales and Australia before coming to England to continue their studies. Formed in 2003 at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, the quartet has since undertaken a Chamber Music Fellowship at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and a Leverhulme Chamber Music Fellowship at the Royal Academy of Music in London. The quartet has also participated in courses such as the Verbier Festival Academy, IMS Prussia Cove, Britten-Pears Young Artist Programme and the ProQuartet-CEMC Professional Training Programme, and has been fortunate enough to receive tuition from numerous master musicians. The group’s major influences are Eberhard Feltz, Gábor Takács-Nagy, Erich Höbarth, Andras Schiff, Thomas Brandis, Alasdair Tait and the Belcea Quartet.
Performing or teaching, the Barbirollis strive to inspire people of all ages and abilities. They give masterclasses and workshops in schools and colleges around the country and collaborate with the CAVATINA Chamber Music Trust on their workshop programme for London Schools.
In 2010 the Barbirolli Quartet received the loan of four fine Italian instruments, comprising two Guadagnini violins, a Ceruti viola and a Stradivarius cello, kindly lent to them by the Royal Academy of Music. The quartet is very grateful for the generous support they have received from the Richard Carne Trust, the Wingate Foundation and a Verbier Festival Academy CUBS Prize, and also to the University of Salford where the group has been in residence since its inception.