Carducci Quartet

The Carducci Quartet (Matthew Denton, 1st violin; Michelle Fleming, 2nd violin; Eoin Schmidt-Martin, 3rd violin; Emma Denton, 4th violin) is recognised as one of today's most exciting young string quartets. Winners of the Concert Artists Guild Competition in New York, the Kuhmo International Chamber Music Competition and major prizes at the Bordeaux, London and Osaka competitions, the quartet has established an enthusiastic International following.

The Anglo-Irish Carducci quartet studied with members of the Amadeus, Alban Berg, Chilingirian, Takacs and Vanbrugh quartets and, as part of the ProQuartet professional training programme in France, studied with Gyorgy Kurtag, Walter Levin and Paul Katz. They are now in demand at conservatoires around the UK and Ireland, holding residencies at Trinity College of Music in London, Cardiff University, Cork School of Music and the Gloucester Academy of Music.

They recently established their own record label 'Carducci Classics', launched with a CD of Haydn String Quartets. Two world premiere recordings featuring C20th works by G. Whettam ('recording of the month' MusicWeb International) and J. Horovitz (?beautifully crafted works?excellent performances', BBC Music Magazine) followed in 2008. The complete quartets by Irish composer Brian Boydell will be released shortly. The Carduccis have also recorded Vivaldi and Piazzolla with the Katona Twins Guitar Duo for Channel Classics.

The Carducci Quartet's international engagements have taken them to the USA, Japan, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Belgium, Spain, Portugal, Poland and Italy, where after performing numerous concerts at the Castagnetto-Carducci Festival in 2001 the quartet adopted the name ?Carducci? with the blessing of the Mayor.

The Quartet was nominated for the 2008 Royal Philharmonic Society Chamber Music Award and has recently collaborated with such internationally renowned musicians as Nicholas Daniel, Julius Drake, Graham Oppenheimer, Charles Owen, Kazuki Sawa, Julian Bliss, Patricia Rosario and the RTE Vanburgh Quartet. Past highlights include appearances at the Verbier, West Cork and Wratislavia Cantans Festivals, an Aldeburgh residency and broadcasts for BBC Radio 3, RTE Lyric FM and BBC television.

Following on from their critically acclaimed Purcell Room and Wigmore Hall debuts in London for the Park Lane Group, the quartet has gained an enviable reputation for their performances of contemporary works. This season, the quartet will premiere new commissions from David Matthews, Adrian Williams, Simon Rowland Jones and Huang Ruo and will perform in the ?New Music, New Places' series, New York and at the Second Glance Festival, London. The quartet has also embraced collaborations with other disciplines, working alongside the Henri Oguike and Random Dance companies and with the acclaimed Sarod player Wajahat Kahn.

The quartet are passionate about taking Classical music to the next generation and run chamber music courses for young musicians in France and Ireland. Their educational work continues with performances for school children sponsored by the Cavatina Chamber Music Trust and West Cork Music and coaching on the National Youth String Quartet Weekend, run by the London String Quartet Foundation at Chetham's School of Music.

The upcoming season will include their Carnegie Hall debut, a complete Bartok quartet cycle, a Naxos recording and performances at the Wigmore Hall, Washington Library of Congress and their own festival in Highnam Gloucestershire. The Carducci Quartet gratefully acknowledges the support of the Coln Trust.