Castalian String Quartet

In 2019 the Castalian String Quartet won the prestigious Royal Philharmonic Society’s Young Artists Award. Previous awards include the 2018 inaugural Merito String Quartet & Valentin Erben Prize and a Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship.

Over the past year, the Quartet has given its debut North American recitals at The Philips Collection (Washington D.C.), Lincoln Center (N.Y.), Middlebury College (Vermont), Salle Bourgie (Montreal), Vancouver Recital Series and Banff International String Quartet Festival.

Other 2018/19 highlights included a return to the Aldeburgh Festival, the complete Haydn Op.76 quartets at Wigmore Hall (recorded for future release on the Wigmore Live label) and recitals at Konzerthaus Vienna, Auditorium du Louvre (Paris), Flagey (Brussels) and the Tel Aviv Museum of Art.

This season they will perform a Brahms and Schumann chamber music cycle at Wigmore Hall, collaborating with Stephen Hough, Cédric Tiberghien, Michael Collins, Nils Mönkemeyer, Isabel Charisius and Ursula Smith.

In 2020 the Castalian String Quartet will give its Carnegie Hall debut and participate in the Simmenauer International Beethoven Quartet series. In addition to return visits to Israel, they will perform across Europe, giving recitals in the Paris Philharmonie, Esterházy Castle (Fertöd) and the Heidelberger-Frühling, Rheingau, Mosel and Dresden Festivals.

They have performed widely throughout Europe, with highlights including the Hamburg Chamber Music Series, International Musikfest Goslar, Sommerliche Musiktage Hitzacker, “Quartetaffairs” in Frankfurt (broadcast by NDR), the Queille Festival and Conques Lumière du Roman in France. UK appearances include the Bath, Cheltenham, East Neuk, North Norfolk, Peasmarsh and Winchester Festivals. They have also been the resident ensemble at the Esbjerg International Chamber Music Festival in Denmark and Festival Musique d’Été à Suzette, near Avignon. Further afield, they have undertaken tours of China and Colombia.

The Quartet has collaborated with with Aleksander Madzar, Alasdair Beatson, Simon Rowland-Jones, Daniel Lebhardt and Olivier Stankiewicz, among many others.

Formed in 2011, the Castalian String Quartet studied with Oliver Wille (Kuss Quartet) at the Hannover University of Music, Drama and Media, graduating with a Masters degree. Awards include 1st Prize at the 2015 Lyon Chamber Music Competition and 3rd Prize at the 2016 Banff International String Quartet Competition.

The Quartet was selected by Young Classical Artists Trust (YCAT) in 2016 and have received further coaching from Simon Rowland-Jones, David Waterman and Isabel Charisius.

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Press reviews

“...rising stars in their field, the Castalian String Quartet...The Clarinet Quintet, a desert island choice for many of us, was given a desert island-worthy performance here...To hear this music, so full of poetry, joy and sorrow, realised to such perfection, felt like a miracle.”

The Observer-Fiona Maddocks / Wigmore Hall with Michael Collins / January 2020

“They're terrific: violinists who seem capable of anything, layering a gleaming finish (often the key to a really luminous quartet sound) on viola a player with a tone like crushed velvet and a cellist who sounds like old gold.”

The Spectator-Richard Bratby / Wigmore Hall / January 2020

Contact

To book the Castalian String Quartet please contact Sue Hudson – Senior Artist Manager

[email protected]

0207 379 8477

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Samuele Telari

An “artist whose overwhelming musicality goes beyond his instrument” - Il Sole24Ore
Olivier Stankiewicz

Over the last year Olivier has given recitals at Wigmore Hall, Snape Maltings and the Louvre collaborating with Alasdair Beatson, the Doric and Castalian String Quartets. He performed Benjamin Attahir's Concerto Nur with the Orchestre de Lille and took part in the Aix-en-Provence Easter Festival with Renaud Capuçon.
Timothy Ridout

Selected as a BBC New Generation Artist in 2019, Timothy is one of the most sought after violists of his generation.
Theo Plath

In 2019 Theo was appointed principal of the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra and won 3rd Prize at the ARD Competition in Munich.
Ema Nikolovska

In 2019 Ema was selected as a BBC New Generation Artist.
Maciej Kulakowski

In 2015 at the age of 19, Maciej won 1st Prize and a special award at the Lutoslawski International Cello Competition. He was a Laureate in the Finals of the 2017 Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels and was selected for representation by Young Classical Artists Trust (YCAT) in 2019.
Mayumi Kanagawa

In 2019 Mayumi won 4th Prize at the 2019 Tchaikovsky International Competition performing concertos by Mozart and Tchaikovsky in the Finals with the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Yuri Simonov.
Jonian Ilias Kadesha

"To regard him simply as a huge talent is not enough: there is an element of pure genius in this young man" - Süddeutsche Zeitung 2017.
George Harliono

In 2019 George was the only British pianist selected for the Tchaikovsky Competition.
Giuseppe Guarrera

In 2017 Giuseppe won 2nd Prize at the Montréal International Competition along with five other awards including the People’s Choice.