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Arditti Quartet

This quartet was founded in 1974 by Irvine Arditti while he was a student at the Royal Academy of Music.

Known for its performances and recordings of contemporary music, it has had hundreds of pieces written for it since it began and has premiered performances of works by composers that include Elliott Carter, Karlheinz Stockhausen, John Cage and Gyorgy Ligeti.

The members conduct workshops and masterclasses internationally and were resident string tutors at the Darmstadt Summer Courses for New Music from 1982-1996.

The ensemble has recorded over 150 CDs which include the complete quartets of Luciano Berio, the complete Second Viennese School’s string quartets and music by many leading contemporary composers. It was awarded the Ernst von SiemensMusic Prize for lifetime achievement in 1999 and has also won other awards including Gramophone Awards in 1999 and 2002 and several Deutsche Schallplatter Preis.

Members

  • Irvine Arditti (1974-Present) (violin)
  • Levine Andrade (1974-1990) (viola)
  • Lennox Mackenzie (1974-1983) (second violin)
  • John Senter (1974-1976) (cello)
  • Helen Liebmann (1976-1977) (cello)
  • Rohan de Saram (1977-2005) (cello)
  • Alexander Balanescu (1983-1985) (second violin)
  • David Alberman (1985-1994) (second violin)
  • Garth Knox (1990-1997) (viola)
  • Graeme Jennings (1994-2005) (second violin)
  • Dov Scheindlin (1998-2002) (viola)
  • Ralf Ehlers (2003-Present) (viola)
  • Lucas Fels (2005-Present) (cello)
  • Ashot Sarkissjan (2005-Present) (second violin)

Thomas Ades recordings
Quintet for Piano and Strings
EMI 57664 (CD: Ades: Piano Quintet/Schubert: “Trout” Quintet)
Piano – Thomas Ades

Sources:

  1. http://www.ardittiquartet.co.uk/ 
  2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arditti_Quartet
  3. http://www.ownvoice.com/ardittiquartet/biography.htm
  4. https://www.discogs.com/artist/645741-Arditti-Quartet
  5. http://www.allmusic.com/artist/arditti-quartet-mn0000222413/biography