Elias String Quartet
© Kaupo Kikkas
Freshness, intensity and assurance
‘Simply astounding, in the freshness, intensity, assurance, and seeming spontaneity of their playing’
BBC Music Magazine
The Elias String Quartet is celebrated for its deep musical understanding and bold performances, which have earned the ensemble an international following and frequent tours across Europe and the US. Their ability to convey profound musical meaning, especially across entire quartet cycles, has made them a fixture in the world’s most prestigious concert halls and festivals.
They recently toured the US and Canada with a complete Beethoven quartet cycle, before taking it to Suntory Hall, Tokyo. This season’s highlights include a Mendelssohn programme at the Oslo Quartet Series and visits to Norwich Chamber Music and Turner Sims. The players are keen advocates of contemporary music and last season they gave the world premiere of Judith Bingham’s Clarinet Quintet at the Three Choirs Festival.
Since their rise to prominence as BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists in 2009, the quartet has made Wigmore Hall a second home, having completed cycles there of Beethoven, Schumann, and Mendelssohn. Their innovative Beethoven Project, in which they shared their research and insights on the composer’s complete string quartets online, demonstrated their commitment to both musical excellence and audience engagement, with performances at eleven different venues across the UK, including Wigmore Hall.
‘If we’ve done our jobs well, we and the audience have all been completely immersed, so it’s a bit like coming out of a dream’
