"... superb technical control, innate musicality and an extraordinary sense of ensemble. Couple that with a deep understanding of their repertoire, and an involvement that communicates itself electrifyingly to an audience, and the Szymanowski Quartet bears the hallmark of greatness ... I guarantee you will be hearing a lot more from this gifted young group."   Paul Cutts, The Strad, May 2003

Since its foundation in Warsaw in 1995, the Szymanowski Quartet has developed into a truly charismatic string quartet. Many awards at well-known competitions, such as the first prize at the Premio Vittorio Gui Competition in Florence and the In Memoriam Dimitri Schostakowitsch in Hanover confirmed the extraordinarily high standard of the ensemble. In 1999 they won second prizes at both the Osaka International Chamber Music Competition and at the Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition, as well as the audience prizes of both competitions. Between 2001 and 2003, the Szymanowski Quartet participated in the New Generation Artists Scheme of BBC Radio 3.

In 2005 the ensemble was honoured with the Szymanowski Award by the Karol Szymanowski Foundation in Warsaw, the only time this award has been given to a string quartet. Previous award winners include Sir Simon Rattle.

The Szymanowski Quartet has played regularly at internationally renowned festivals such as Schleswig-Holstein and Rheingau, Mozartfest Würzburg, Bregenz and Schwetzingen, Niedersächsische Musiktage as well as at the Lockenhaus, Luxemburg, City of London, Cheltenham and Bath Festivals. The Quartet has performed at Carnegie Hall, New York, Wigmore Hall , London, Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, Konzerthaus, Berlin, Grünewald Hall, Stockholm and the Moscow International Performing Arts Centre as well as at the Perth Festival, Australia, and the BBC Proms. The quartet has toured extensively, including in the United States and in Australia.

The Szymanowski Quartet studied at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Hanover with their teacher and mentor Hatto Beyerle. They have also worked with Isaac Stern, Walter Levin and with members of the Amadeus, Emerson, Juillard and Guarneri Quartets. The quartet currently teaches chamber music at the Musikhochschule, Hanover, as Quartet in Residence; they also programme the Hanover chamber music series Kontraste.

Apart from the classical-romantic repertoire, the Quartet includes in its repertoire works by contemporary composers such as Magnus Lindberg, Elena Kats-Chernin and Thomas Larcher.

The Szymanowski Quartet released a CD of Haydn, Bacewicz and Dvorák on the Avie label in 2006; further recordings, including a CD of quartets by Szymanowski, are in progress.

In the season 2007/2008 the Szymanowski Quartet returned to London, Warsaw, the USA and Canada as well as to the Rheingau and Lockenhaus Festivals. They played at the Musikverein in Vienna, and the Frick Museum, New York, as well as giving concerts in Salzburg and in Tel Aviv.

Future engagements include concerts in Sao Paolo, Brazil, their return to the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, concerts at the Wigmore Hall, London, and appearances in festivals and chamber series throughout Europe.

Visit their own website here: www.szymanowski-quartet.com   

UK Management: Aminah Domloge, Pro Artist

Note to promoters: please do not use the above biography for publicity or programme purposes; contact Pro Artist  for the most recent version.