The Chilingirian String Quartet

One of the world’s most celebrated and widely-traveled ensembles will open the Pharos Arts Foundation’s 2012 season. Renowned for its thrilling interpretations of the great quartets as well as the commanding performances of the contemporary repertoire, the Chilingirian Quartet celebrates its 40th anniversary. Having developed strong bonds with Cyprus audiences through a number of outstanding concerts and educational activities throughout the years, the Chilingirian Quartet will join forces with young Cypriot clarinettist George Georgiou for a unique concert of quartets by Ravel and Haydn and Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet.

The Chilingirian String Quartet  

The Chilingirian Quartet is one of the world’s most celebrated and widely-traveled ensembles, renowned for its thrilling interpretations of the great quartets and commanding performances of the contemporary repertoire. The Quartet is composed of Levon Chilingirian (violin), Philip De Groote (cello), Ronald Birks (violin), and Susie Mészáros (viola) – highly accomplished musicians who blend four distinct voices into a single extraordinary sound. It is a sound that critics around the world have heralded as “balanced,” “passionate,” “warm,” “subtle,” and “dynamic.”

London has always been a meeting-point for the world’s musicians, and it was in London in 1971 that four prizewinning musicians met and decided to dedicate themselves to chamber music. Word of the new quartet spread rapidly, and within a short time the Chilingirian Quartet was claimed by London’s critics to be an ensemble that would have a major impact on the world of the string quartet. BBC and World Service broadcasts of the Chilingirian Quartet were soon followed by invitations to the Edinburgh, Aldeburgh, and Bath festivals, and to the most important cities throughout Europe.

In 1976, a triumphant debut in New York made the Chilingirians a sought-after group throughout the United States. The Quartet has since made over fifteen coast-to-coast tours of the USA and Canada. Extensive tours of Australia, New Zealand, South America, Africa, and the Far East make the Quartet equally well known around the world. In 1988, the group became the first-ever Quartet-in-Residence at the Royal College of Music, where it continues to offer master classes to many of the world’s most promising young musicians.

The Quartet has built an extensive and critically-acclaimed discography of works by Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven, Schubert, Bartok, Dvorak, and other major composers. And, it released groundbreaking recordings of masterworks by contemporary composers such as Michael Tippett, John Tavener, Hugh Wood, and Michael Berkeley. The Chilingirians have also appeared extensively on TV and radio programs around the world, including an ongoing series of broadcasts for the BBC.

Now in its fourth decade, the Chilingirian Quartet continues to tour, record, and teach, amassing one of the music world’s most impressive resumés. The Quartet maintains a keen balance between its performance and teaching activities. Its residencies have included the Royal College of Music, Liverpool University  and Norway Chamber Music Association. Furthermore, the Chilingirian Quartet has established an exciting connection with Venezuela’s “El Sistema,” world-famous for its Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra. The Quartet has been asked to further the chamber music education of the group’s highly talented young players by visiting Caracas to teach and perform with the older players who will pass on their experiences to their younger colleagues.

George Georgiou / clarinet 

George Georgiou was born in Nicosia in 1984. He studied the clarinet with Julian Farrell and Joy Farall at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, and holds degrees (BMus and Master in Advanced Instrumental Studies) from the City University. As a soloist, Georgiou has appeared with the City University Symphony Orchestra and the prestigious Moscow Virtuosi under the baton of Vladimir Spivakov. He has given recitals in Cyprus, Greece, Ireland, the UK and the US and has repeatedly collaborated with a number of ensembles such as the Apple Hill String Quartet (USA), and the Semplice String Quartet with whom he has appeared as ‘Artists in Residence’ during the 2010 Apple Hill Chamber Music Festival.

His strong interest in contemporary music has led him to give a number of Cyprus premieres of works by composers such as Carter, Berio, Mantovani and Stockhausen. Georgiou is also a strong supporter of Cypriot composers and has worked closely with several of them, having given world and Cyprus premieres of their pieces. George Georgiou resides in Cyprus where he works as the co-ordinator of the Cyprus Youth Orchestra. He has currently been appointed as the artistic director of Due Capi Music Agency. He is the founder of Cyprus Clarinet Studio and a member of Amphiliki Ensemble and the Claretini Quartet.

Programme: 

Maurice Ravel (1875 - 1937)
String Quartet in F major (1903)

Joseph Haydn (1732 - 1809)
String Quartet in D major, Op. 76, No. 5 (1797)

interval

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 - 1791)
Quintet for Clarinet and Strings, K. 581 (1789)