West Wight Arts Association

George Garnier

• Alex Redington violin
• Jonathan Stone violin
• Simon Tandree viola
• John Myerscough cello

Described by Gramophone Magazine as ‘one of the finest young string quartets’, whose members are ‘musicians with fascinating things to say’ the Doric String Quartet has received glowing responses from audiences and critics across the globe. In 2008 the Quartet won 1st prize in the Osaka International Chamber Music Competition in Japan, 2nd prize at the Premio Paolo Borciani International String Quartet Competition in Italy and the Ensemble Prize at the Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in Germany. In 2006 the Quartet was selected for representation by Young Concert Artists Trust (YCAT).

Since its formation in 1998 the Quartet has performed across the world and collaborated with artists including Ian Bostridge, Philip Langridge, Mark Padmore, Piers Lane, Kathryn Stott and the Florestan Trio. Recent highlights include a critically acclaimed Haydn evening at Wigmore Hall broadcast by BBC Radio 3, recitals in Brussels, Frankfurt, Galicia, Lucerne, Milan and Paris and visits to the Carinthischer Sommer, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Incontri in Terra di Siena, East Neuk, Isle of Man and Schwetzinger Festivals. Further afield they have toured to Japan, Israel and South East Asia.

Highlights of the 2010/11 season include the Quartet’s American debut with recitals at the Frick Museum in New York and Library of Congress in Washington and tours to Australia and New Zealand. Elsewhere engagements include recitals at the Berlin Konzerthaus, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Laeiszhalle Hamburg and in Budapest and Tel Aviv. UK engagements this season include four appearances at Wigmore Hall, a tour of Scotland and concerts as part of long-term residencies at Kettle’s Yard in Cambridge and at the Wiltshire Music Centre in Bradford-upon-Avon.

In 2009 the Doric String Quartet’s first CD was released to critical acclaim on the Wigmore Live label and was chosen as Editor’s Choice in Gramophone. “The Doric’s Haydn sparkles with wit on their impressive [and] very auspicious recording debut”. Since 2010 the Quartet has recorded exclusively for Chandos. The first CD, the complete Korngold String Quartets, was released in September 2010 and featured as one of the Critic’s Choice disks of 2010 in Gramophone. Future releases will include works by Bartók, Chausson, Schubert, Schumann and Walton.

Formed in 1998 at Pro Corda, The National School for Young Chamber Music Players, from 2002 the Doric String Quartet studied on the Paris-based ProQuartet Professional Training Program, where they worked with members of the Alban Berg, Artemis, Hagen and LaSalle Quartets and with György Kurtag. The Quartet continues to work with Rainer Schmidt (Hagen Quartet).

The Doric String Quartet acknowledges the generous support of an Anonymous Foundation

www.doricstringquartet.com