Concert by INA KANCHEVA, soprano CONSONE QUARTET
PROGRAM:
R. Schumann – "The Love and Life of a Woman" Op. 42
F. Mendelssohn – String Quartet without Op., E-flat Major
G. Mahler – "Songs on Ruckert"
🎹 CONSONE QUARTET
Organizers: Cultural Perspectives Foundation
The first quartet for period instruments to be selected as a BBC New Generation Artist, the CONSONE QUARTET has quickly made a name for itself with its honest and expressive interpretations of the classical and early romantic repertoire. Their debut CD, released in 2018 by the French label Ambronay, explores music by Haydn and Mendelssohn. It was met with great critical acclaim as a recording "that immediately jumps out of the stereo at you as something special" (The Strad, 2019).
Formed at the Royal College of Music in London, the CONSONE QUARTET began its professional career in 2015, shortly after winning two prizes at the York Early Music International 2015 competition for young artists, including the EUBO Development Trust prize and a place in the EEEmerging program in France. In 2016, they won the Royal Overseas League Award for Ensemble, and in 2022, they received the prestigious Borletti-Buitoni Trust (BBT) scholarship.
The quartet has been enthusiastically received at London's Wigmore Hall, Kings Place, St Martin-in-the-Fields, as well as at festivals in Edinburgh, Cheltenham, Buxton, and elsewhere. The English festivals Haydn, Brighton, and York for early music have been loyal supporters and regular hosts of the group over the past few years.
The quartet has performed at the Paris Philharmonic String Quartet Biennale and the Auditorium de Lyon in France; at the Concertgebouw Brugge and AMUZ in Belgium; at the REMA Showcase; at the Concerts d'été à St Germain in Switzerland; and on tour in Bolivia and Peru. The group has been selected to participate in the Académie d'Aix-en-Provence festival in June 2020.
CONSONE QUARTET enjoys regular collaborations with fellow musicians, most recently including Colin Lawson, Anneke Scott, Gwilym Bowen, Paolo Zanuso, Mary Bevan, Alexander Rolton, and members of the Hanover Band. The quartet has worked with students at Chetham's School of Music, the Royal College of Music, and the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. CONSONE are currently Hans Keller Chamber Music Scholars at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama for the period 2020-2022.
During the pandemic, the quartet created their own online series entitled "Barnstorming!" – performing chamber music in barns across the UK. The project was kindly supported by the Continuum Foundation, whose latest round of grants will enable live performances of a new composition for string sextet by composer Gavin Bryars this summer.
Highlights for the 2022-2023 season include Queen's Hall, Edinburgh; Wigmore Hall, London; Stoller Hall, Manchester; De Bijloke, Belgium; Heidelberg Festival, Germany; and a tour of North America. The quartet recently signed a contract with the Scottish label Linn Records and will release an album of music by Felix Mendelssohn in the spring of 2023.
