Albion Quartet
The Albion Quartet gained recognition and began playing some of the world's top halls soon after the group's formation in 2016. The quartet is noteworthy for playing thematic concerts and also for its commitment to contemporary music.
At the outset, the Albion Quartet consisted of violinists Tamsin Waley-Cohen and Emma Parker, violist Rosalind Ventris, and cellist Nathaniel Boyd. Though young, all had strong solo careers at the time, and all had been playing in string quartets since childhood. Ventris was later replaced by Ann Beilby. By the 2017-2018 season, the group had snared extremely high-profile bookings at the Louvre in Paris, the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, and the Robert Schumann Gesellschaft in Frankfurt, as well as several major summer festivals. The quartet gained attention not only for its strong sense of ensemble but also for thematic programs, unusual in the putatively abstract string quartet genre, such as those centered on such ideas as Mentors, War, Folk, and Hymn. The Albion Quartet has championed contemporary music and commissioned several new works, including a new quartet by Freya Waley-Cohen and a soprano-and-string quartet song cycle, Kate Whitley's Charlotte Mew Songs. The group also performs traditional repertory, including cycles of Beethoven's quartets and a large group of Dvořák's. Signed to the Signum Classics label, the Albion Quartet released an album of quartets by Dvořák and Josef Suk in 2019. The Albion Quartet has gone on to perform at many major chamber music venues, including the Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C., and Wigmore Hall in London.
Later in 2019, the group appeared on a recording of Richard Blackford's Kalon, a concerto for string quartet and orchestra, with the Czech Philharmonic, and 2020 saw the release of an album featuring Dvořák's String Quartets Nos. 8 and 10. The quartet's work has a strong educational component: the group has held residencies at Gresham's School and the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama, and under the auspices of the Cavatina Chamber Music Trust Ensemble, it has given workshops for primary school students of diverse backgrounds. In 2022, the quartet returned on Signum Classics with an album of quartets by Walton and Shostakovich. The group's plans for the 2020s included the establishment of the Friends of the Albion Quartet, aimed at facilitating new school residencies.
© James Manheim /TiVo
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Discography
12 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller
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Walton & Shostakovich String Quartets
Kamermuziek - Released by Signum Records on 4 nov. 2022
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Dvořák : Quartets Nos. 5 & 12 'American' - Suk: Meditation
Kamermuziek - Released by Signum Records on 3 mei 2019
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Dvořák : String Quartets 8 & 10
Kamermuziek - Released by Signum Records on 14 feb. 2020
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String Quartet No. 3 in F Major, Op. 73: III. Allegro non troppo
Kamermuziek - Released by Signum Records on 18 okt. 2022
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String Quartet in A Minor: II. Presto
Kamermuziek - Released by Signum Records on 20 sep. 2022
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Meditation on an old Czech Hymn 'St Wenceslas', Op. 35a
Kamermuziek - Released by Signum Records on 17 apr. 2019
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String Quartet in A Minor: III. Lento
Kamermuziek - Released by Signum Records on 4 okt. 2022
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Richard Blackford: Kalon
Albion Quartet, Jirí Rožeñ, Czech Philharmonic Orchestra
Klassiek - Released by Signum Records on 6 sep. 2019
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String Quartet No. 12 in F Major, Op. 96, 'American': IV. Finale: vivace ma non troppo
Kamermuziek - Released by Signum Records on 22 feb. 2019
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String Quartet No. 10 in E flat Major, Op. 51: III. Andante con moto
Kamermuziek - Released by Signum Records on 12 feb. 2020
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String Quartet No. 10 in E flat Major, Op. 51: IV. Finale: Allegro assai
Kamermuziek - Released by Signum Records on 11 dec. 2019
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Dvořák : String Quartet No. 8 (Andante)
Kamermuziek - Released by Signum Records on 22 jan. 2020
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo