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Villiers Quartet

London's Villiers Quartet is increasingly known for its performances of British chamber music, which it has promoted through concerts and recordings. The group has been especially visible via appearances on radio and television in Britain and abroad. The Villiers Quartet was formed in 2011 by violinists James Dickenson and Tamaki Higashi, violist Carmen Flores, and cellist Nick Stringfellow. It was named for the musically vigorous Villiers Street in London. As of 2022, Higashi and Flores remained as original members; the first violinist was Katie Stillman, and the cellist was Leo Melvin. The group made its recording debut in 2014 on the Naxos label with an album of quartets by Robert Still, and its recorded output has continued to emphasize British music heavily. More early visibility came in 2015 when the Villiers Quartet was heard on a BBC One television serial dramatization of D.H. Lawrence's novel Lady Chatterley's Lover. The following year, the group joined pianist Martin Cousin on the Somm label for a recording of piano quintets by David Matthews and Dmitri Shostakovich. In 2017, the Villiers Quartet became quartet-in-residence at Oxford University, a position it continued to hold as of 2022. It has also served in the same position at Nottingham High School. The quartet's repertory is centered on music by British composers, both well-established (Elgar, Delius) and less so (William Sterndale Bennett); the group has also encouraged the composition of new quartets and promoted the performance of contemporary music. The Villiers Quartet has been heard on BBC Radio 3, on BBC radio's In Tune and The Andrew Marr Show broadcasts, and on NPO 4 radio from the Netherlands. In 2020, the quartet gave the world premiere of Frederick Delius' string quartet of 1888 in its original version. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the group created an online study guide for Beethoven's string quartets, intended for use during lockdown. The Villiers Quartet made several recordings of 19th and 20th century British repertory for the Naxos label, moving to Lyrita in 2020 for a recording of the last four quartets of William Alwyn. The group returned to Naxos in 2022 for a recording of the quartets of Delius (the newly unearthed 1888 quartet) and Ethel Smyth. The Villiers Quartet has given master classes at institutions in Britain and the U.S., including Oxford University, Duke University, and Dartmouth College.
© James Manheim /TiVo

Discography

9 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller

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