Margot Kolodziej - violin
Julia Kleinsmann - violin
Minna Svedberg - viola
Renée Timmer - cello
With a fresh perspective, the ADAM Quartet is looking for ways to shed its own light on the string quartet while remaining true to the essence of the genre.
Since graduating from the Conservatory of Amsterdam, they have been part of the Netherlands String Quartet Academy (NSKA) since 2020, and from September 2022 within the full-time two-year post-academic program. In 2021, ADAM was one of the winners of a grant from the Kersjes Fund.
With great courage and daring, ADAM has debuted since 2020 on major Dutch stages and festivals, such as the String Quartet Biennale Amsterdam 2020, Grachtenfestival, Stift Festival, Schiermonnikoog Festival, Storioni Festival, Spiegelzaal and a crossover program with jazz saxophonist Kika Sprangers. At the NSKA String Quartet Festival in June 2022, ADAM premiered no fewer than six commissioned compositions, written by composers from all continents.
Inga Våga Gaustad - violin
Tim Brackman - violin
Elisa Karen Tavenier - viola
Pieter de Koe - cello
Photo: Sarah Wijzenbeek
The Animato Quartet is considered the most talented and promising young quartet in the Netherlands. The four members combine technical talent with early musical maturity. The Animato Quartet has been supervised by the NSKA since 2017, and after completing the post-academic training in the summer of 2022, the ensemble will be "In Residence".
The quartet can be heard at home and abroad, including in the Concertgebouw, TivoliVredenburg, Grachtenfestival and the String Quartet Biennale.
After a tour of the major halls in the Netherlands, Animato received the audience award of Dutch Classical Talent 2022! The jury:
“Four top players with a vibrant energy, they captivate you from the first note! The quartet is at the service of each other and of the music and is the great promise of the Dutch string quartets”. The 2021-2022 season was marked by various competitions. Animato achieved a wonderful third place and the special Jury Prize at the International Chamber Music Competition in Trondheim in September 2021 and laureate at the Joseph Joachim Competition in Weimar in 2022 - also a special prize as "particularly gifted ensemble". In the summer of 2022, Animato was invited to the Verbier Festival Academy and selected for the prestigious Banff International String Quartet Competition.
Amarins Wierdsma (NL) - violin
Kate Maloney - violin
Christoph Slenczka - viola
Yoanna Prodanova - cello
Photo: Andrej Grilc
Four international musicians, four unique personalities, one string quartet. The Barbican Quartet is an original voice on the chamber music scene, delighting audiences with their intimately powerful performances and virtuosic ensemble playing.
2022 has already been an outstanding year for the BSQ, following the appointment of new second violinist in February. Instant connection between the four musicians led to the development of a distinct and luscious quality of sound, which was quickly recognized by their mentors the Quatuor Ébène and Günter Pichler. A short 6 months later the quartet celebrated an outstanding first prize win at the 71st ARD International String Quartet Competition, also being awarded the special prize for Best Interpretation of the commissioned work by Dobrinka Tabakova, the Genuin Classics CD production special prize, the GEWA prize and the Henle Urtext prize. This incredible success follows the quartets third prize win at the Bordeaux International String Quartet Competition in May.
Barbican has been In Residence at the NSKA since 2020.
Emma Purslow - violin
Marike Kruup - violin
Claire Newton - viola
Jobine Siekman (NL) - cello
The Alkyona Quartet present fresh imaginative interpretations of both well-known and hidden gems of the string quartet repertoire. They are well known for their warm connection to audiences and vivacious performances, and are 'as vibrant and memorable as their 'Kingfisher' namesake'.
The quartet were Tunnell Trust Award Holders 2020/21 and Making Music Selected Artists 2020-2021, and have performed in many leading UK venues including St Martin-in-the-Fields, St John Smith Square and the Royal Albert Hall. They were New Generation Artists at the Stift International Music Festival 2019 and residents at Music at Brel the same year, as well as being featured at the Huygens Festival in 2020 and 2021 (broadcast live on Dutch TV channel Midvliet).
The quartet love collaborations across the arts and this year hold a residency at Leighton House Museum, London where they have been running events, concerts and salons both online and in person. They released their debut album, 'Intimate Letters' in June 2020 in collaboration with Cegin Productions.
The Belinfante Quartet is known for their sincere interpretation of the string quartet core repertoire, as well as their lively performance of works by lesser-known composers. Praised by the NRC with ‘Gloeiend samenspel en experimenteerdrift’ for their debut CD, the quartet aims to continue this with their own arrangements of folk music.
They study at the Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover with Oliver Wille, and are also affiliated with the Dutch String Quartet Academy. They were recently selected to participate in MUSA (European Young Musicians Soft Skills Alliance), a professional European training program for young string quartets, funded by Erasmus+.
The Belinfante Quartet also participated in the SQBA Residency of the String Quartet Biennale Amsterdam, where they were allowed to play at the concert during the last ‘corona’ edition, which was cancelled due to restrictions, and also premiered M. Wantenaar's first string quartet.
In addition to concerts, the Belinfante Quartet enjoys working with artists from other disciplines.
In 2020, they collaborated with the urban dance group Static and Who's Next for workshops and performances with dance and classical music at secondary schools in Almere.
In 2021, they combined Haydn's 'Sieben Letzten Worte' with projected visualizations of the music, created by Jordi Cardenas.
The quartet's name honors Frieda Belinfante, cellist and the first female conductor in Europe. Her sincerity, determination and fervor, both in music and in other aspects of her life, are a great source of inspiration.
The Belinfante Quartet is supported by the Kersjesfonds, Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds, Anja Fichte Stiftung and the Heij Konijn Fonds. We would like to thank them all for their generous support.
iu Ting 'Francis' Chik - violin
Yip-Wai Chow - violin
Caleb Wong - viola
Yan-Ho Cheng - cello
Photo: Calvin Sit
Founded at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music in the United States, Cong Quartet has performed around the world, established themselves as one of the most energetic and enthusiastic groups. Currently the Ensemble-in-Residence of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and a quartet in the Nederlandse Strijkkwartet Academie (NSKA). Cong Quartet were the first place and Grand Prize winner of the 2019 Salzburg-Mozart International Chamber Competition in Tokyo. Members of the group were also prize winners in the Osaka International Music Competition, Alice & Eleonore Schoenfeld International String Competition, Generation Next Arts Competition, Lima Young Artist Competition and Hong Kong International Strings Competition.
Cong Quartet are invited to participate in the upcoming Juilliard String Quartet Seminar as well as the Musethica sessions in Europe. Members have also taken part in the Robert Mann String Quartet Institute in New York, the Intensive String Quartet seminar at Music Academy Hörpu in Iceland, the Ozawa International Chamber Music Academy in Japan, as well as the Chamber Music Performance Studies Residency in Great Mountain Music Festival in Pyeongchang, South Korea, sponsored by the Artsylvia Foundation. The Quartet have assisted the members of Arianna, Blair, Dover, Johannes, Pacifica and Rubens Quartet in coaching younger string quartets at different occasions including Madeline Island Chamber Music and the Indiana University Summer String Academy.
The quartet have played in the masterclass and received coaching from many of the world famous quartets, their important mentors included the Pacifica Quartet at Indiana University, Prof. Ivan Chan (former leader of the Miami Quartet) at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, the Shanghai Quartet, Members of the American, Tokyo, Cavani, Borodin and Juilliard Quartet. Members of the Cong Quartet have also collaborated and performed with world renowned artists such as Ying Quartet, Yuri Bashmet, Mai Motobuchi, Jorja Fleezanis, Joshua Bell, Glenn Dicterow and Eric Kim.
The Damsco Quartet is an up and coming string quartet based in Amsterdam. The four young musicians have only been playing together since 2022, what started as a fun and challenging activity for people who shared a great love for chamber music and very soon after they started playing together, they stormed the stages. Their first performance at the festival Forbidden Music Regained was received with great acclaim and was followed by a CD recording of Henriëtte Bosmans' string quartet for publisher Donemus. These recordings are released on streaming services such as Spotify and Apple Music and more. The quartet is taught by Dmitry Ferschtman and other teachers/professors from the Conservatorium van Amsterdam. Shortly after Forbidden Music Regained, the quartet was invited for a live radio show ''Concertzender Actueel'' where they talked about their meeting and future plans for the Damsco Quartet. From 2023, the Damsco quartet started their studies at NSKA under the mentorship of Marc Danels.
Lisa Schreiber - soprano saxophone
Jen-Hong Wu - alto saxophone
Ileana Termini - tenor saxophone
Pedro Silva - baritone saxophone
The Dokwerk Saxophone Quartet is a young and energetic chamber music ensemble formed in 2019. Originally from four different corners of the world, the four members have found each other in the culturally vibrant city of Amsterdam. Eager to learn and always eager to broaden their horizons, the quartet has recently become part of the NSKA, the Dutch String Quartet Academy, where they have the opportunity to work with, among others, the artistic director Marc Danel and to learn from the rich tradition.
Furthermore, recently awarded first prize in the chamber music category of the International Competition "Vítor Santos" in Portugal, the Dokwerk Saxophone Quartet has now been offered the opportunity to record their debut CD. By combining their individual cultures and backgrounds, these four find an endless richness and variety of musical possibilities and choices. Open-minded and clear-headed, they strive to establish a constant place for the classical saxophone in the music of today and tomorrow.
Doré Quartet is an emerging quartet with young members from Italy and Spain, founded in 2021. The quartet consists of violinists Ilaria Taioli and Samuele Di Gioia, violist José Manuel Muriel López and cellist Caterina Vannoni.
After meeting at the Maastricht Conservatory, the quartet was admitted to the Accademia Stauffer in Cremona in October 2022 under the guidance of the Quartetto di Cremona. From 2023 onwards, the quartet regularly participates in masterclasses at the Dutch String Quartet Academy in Utrecht.
The quartet will participate in masterclasses given by Marc Danel (Quatuor Danel), Ettore Causa (Yale School of Music), Miguel Da Silva (Ysaÿe Quartet), Isabel Villanueva and Mark Messenger (Royal College of Music), Pavel Nikl (Pavel Haas Quartet) and Pierre Colombet (Quatuor Ébène).
In August 2022, they were selected to participate in the Orlando European Summer Course for Chamber Music with a scholarship, where they had the opportunity to follow masterclasses with Kristian Winther, Shunske Sato, Henk Guittart (former Shönberg Quartet), Anna Da Silva Chen, Peter Brunt (Osiris Trio) and the members of the RusQuartet. In addition, they performed in Heerlen, Landgraaf and Kerkrade.
In May 2023, Doré Quartet participated in the Musethica/ECMA session in Grafenegg, Austria, where the members had the opportunity to work and perform with Eckart Runge (Artemis Quartet) and receive a lesson from Johannes Meissl.
In June 2023, the quartet received a grant from the Willem Mengelberg Fund of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, with which they participated in the Zeister Muziekdagen, a summer festival in the Netherlands where they followed masterclasses with Alexander Pavlovsky, members of the Jerusalem Quartet, Schumann Quartet and Ida Bieler (Melos Quartet).
Doré Quartet has performed for major music festivals and cultural institutions in the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium. Prominent performances include: Backstage Klassiek (Parkstad Limburg Theater Heerlen, Netherlands), Orlando Festival (Theater Kerkrade, Netherlands), Musica Sacra Kunstenfestival (Theater aan het Vrijthof in Maastricht, Netherlands and Cultuurcentrum in Hasselt, Belgium), Euregional Outreach Network Conservatorium Maastricht Tour (Theater aan het Vrijthof in Maastricht and Muziekgebouw in Eindhoven, Netherlands).
They won the 1st prize at the 3rd Swiss International Music Competition and the 2nd prize at the 14th International Music Competition "Luigi Cerritelli". In addition, after participating in the highly specialized course "Corso Marco Allegri" in Faenza, the quartet participated in the II Edition of the "Filippo Nicosia" Chamber Music Prize where the jury awarded viola player José Manuel a fine viola made by luthier Giorgio Grisales.
Doré Quartet has been selected to participate in the network of Le Dimore del Quartetto.
The members of the quartet first met in the Ricciotti Ensemble, a Dutch street symphony orchestra. The ensemble was founded in 2009. In the first two years after that, the Dudok Quartet Amsterdam studied with the Alban Berg Quartett at the Hochschule für Musik in Cologne. After that, they studied with Marc Danel at the Dutch String Quartet Academy.
In June 2013, the Dudok Quartet Amsterdam completed their studies at the Dutch String Quartet Academy with the highest distinction. In November 2014, the Dudok Quartet was awarded the Kersjes Prize, a prize that is awarded annually to an ensemble with exceptional talent in the Dutch chamber music scene. The quartet has also received top prizes in various international string quartet competitions in Bordeaux (Concours International de Quatuor à Cordes), Weimar (Internationaler Joseph Joachim Kammermusikwettbewerb), the Netherlands (Charles Hennen Competition/Orlando Competition) and Poland (Radom First International String Quartet Competition). In 2018, the Dudok Quartet Amsterdam was selected to participate in the Le Dimore del Quartetto project.
Many well-known contemporary classical composers, such as Kaija Saariaho, Mark-Anthony Turnage, Calliope Tsoupaki and Max Knigge, have collaborated with the quartet on their music. In 2014, the Dudok Quartet Amsterdam signed for several recordings with Resonus Classics, the world's first fully digital classical music label. Both their first two albums, which combine Haydn and Mozart’s core string quartet repertoire with both György Ligeti’s string quartets and world premieres of the ensemble’s own arrangements, were unanimously praised in international press reviews, including an Editor’s Choice in Gramophone magazine. The Dudok Quartet Amsterdam has performed with many renowned guest musicians and has appeared at many prestigious festivals and venues in Europe and the United States of America.
Willem Marinus Dudok (1884 – 1974) was a famous Dutch architect. He was also a great lover of music: he came from a musical family and composed music in his spare time. “I owe more to composers than to any architect,” he wrote. “I deeply feel the common core of music and architecture: ultimately they both derive their value from the right proportions.”
Since their formation, the Elmore Quartet has received mentorship from some of the world’s leading chamber musicians, including Donald Grant (Elias Quartet), Petr Prause (Talich Quartet), Henk Guittart (Schoenberg Quartet), David Waterman (Endellion Quartet) and Marc Danel (Quatuor Danel).
The Elmores accepted the position of Studio Quartet at the RNCM in 2020 and in the same year won second prize in the CAVATINA Intercollegiate Chamber Music Competition at Wigmore Hall. Their journey continued with their appointment as Junior Fellows in Chamber Music at the Royal Northern College of Music from 2021 to 2023.
Over the past two years, the Elmore Quartet has recorded for BBC Radio 3 and performed at renowned venues across the UK, including Wigmore Hall, Conway Hall, the Pitville Pump Room and the Holywell Music Room in Oxford.
To complement their awards, the quartet launched the Elmore Chamber Music Festival in 2020, which has since become an annual event in the Gloucestershire village of Elmore each August.
In 2023, the Elmores were finalists in the Irene Steels-Wilsing International String Quartet Competition in Germany and were made members of the renowned Netherlands String Quartet Academy (NSKA). They have also received invitations to festivals including Casa del Quartetto (Italy), Crans Montana Master Classes (Switzerland), Residart Festival (Italy) and are looking forward to participating in the Vibre Festival (France) in spring 2024.
They currently hold the position of Hans Keller Chamber Fellows at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. The Elmore Quartet has performed extensively throughout the UK and Europe over the past year. Notable collaborations have included the Jerusalem Quartet, Elias Quartet and pianists Keigo Mukawa and Victor Lim.
With members hailing from Germany, Australia, Spain and Indonesia, Essenza Ensemble is an eclectic chamber music quintet based in the Netherlands. Founded in 2022 at Codarts University for the Arts (Rotterdam), Essenza Ensemble consists of a diverse combination of flute, clarinet, violin, cello and piano. As members of the Dutch String Quartet Academy "NSKA" since May 2023, Essenza Ensemble brings an energetic atmosphere to the stage with a collection of contemporary works and arrangements of masterpieces from the past. The ensemble has performed throughout the Netherlands to rave reviews from audiences, including participation in the Zoom! festival in June 2024 and in masterclasses with renowned musicians such as Marc Danel, Petr Prause, Pierre Colombet, Gordan Nikolić, Gijs Kramers, Julien Hervé, Raphaël Schenkel, Juliette Hurel, Bruno Bonansea, Julie Moulin, Simone Gramaglia and Jules Van Hessen. From October 2024, Essenza Ensemble will participate in the chamber music program at the Folkwang University of Arts in Essen, Germany, under the direction of Matthew Hunt.
Luna De Mol - violin
Kryštof Kohout - violin
Elliot Kempton - viola
Kosta Popović - cello
The Fibonacci String Quartet was formed in 2019 at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, UK. It is an international ensemble, bringing together Czech, Belgian, Swedish and Montenegrin nationalities. The quartet is coached and mentored by Krysia Osostowicz, a renowned violinist and chamber musician; a.o. first violin of the Brodsky String Quartet and the Dante String Quartet and principal violinist of the Endymion Ensemble.
In addition to their studies in London, they were accepted to the renowned Dutch String Quartet Academy (NSKA), and invited to be a part of the “ProQuartet” organization in Paris.
In March 2020 they won both 1st prize and audience prize at the Beethoven Competition for Young Musicians in London. Later that same month they also won the 1st prize at the Saint James Chamber Music competition. This prize included a concert at the famous Saint James Piccadilly church in London.
In December of 2021 they won the First Prize at the International “Triomphe de l'Art” Chamber Music Competition in Brussels, as well as the “Peermusic, Hambourg” Special Prize and the “International Association Dimitri Chostakovich, Paris” Special Prize.
The Flare Quartet, formed in 2020, consists of Dutch violinists Linde van de Ven and Maartje Rosmulder, together with Gabriel Torner Alsina (viola) from Spain and Laurence Gaudreau (cello) from Canada. They form a fresh and innovative ensemble that mainly focuses on 20th and 21st century repertoire and presents this to its audience in an accessible way. We want to seek out and perform new classical repertoire, and in this way give our own twist to the string quartet. In addition, we like to collaborate with artists outside the classical world such as Phoria, Praam and soon Liliane Chlela. The quartet is currently taking lessons with Marc Danel, among others, as part of the NSKA. The ensemble has received coaching from renowned chamber musicians including Sebastian Koloski (Utrecht String Quartet), Gregor Sigl (Artemis Quartet), Daniel Rowland and the Prazak Quartet, and has played repeatedly at venues such as Gaudeamus, Le Guess Who? Festival, and TivoliVredenburg. The quartet has performed in the Grote Zaal of TivoliVredenburg, the Open Air Theatre in the Vondelpark, and Paradiso Tolhuistuin in Amsterdam, among others.
Keizersgracht 241
1016 EA Amsterdam
info@nska.nl
