Formed in 2016, the Albion Quartet unites four outstanding young string players, brought together by a shared belief in the visceral power of the string quartet. The upcoming season sees the quartet returning to the Wigmore Hall and Aldeburgh Festival, as well as continuing residencies at Sainte-Mère Festival in France and RWCMD in Cardiff. They will be making a number of broadcasts for BBC Radio 3, whilst continuing their recording projects for Signum Records, for whom they are exclusive artists.
Engagements from the 2017-18 season included performances at the Louvre in Paris, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Robert Schumann Gesellschaft in Frankfurt, Båstad Festival in Sweden, Festival of Music in Franconia and Rhine Valley Music Festival in Germany, as well as the Hay Festival in the UK. They were artists in residence at the Ryedale Festival, exploring the chamber works of Dvořák, and are currently recording a Dvořák cycle for Signum Records. They have been invited back for an extended residency to explore the complete set of Mozart’s “Haydn” quartets, with the exciting addition that each one is to be paired with a newly commissioned work.
Their commitment to new music has most recently seen a collaboration with Kate Whitley for a powerful and evocative song cycle, the “Charlotte Mew Songs”, recently performed with soprano Caroline Melzer. Over the summer the quartet is excited to be premiering and touring a new work by Freya Waley-Cohen, co-commissioned by Aldeburgh Festival, the Phillips Collection and Sainte-Mère Festival. In 2019 Ann Beilby joined the Albion Quartet as their new violist. Performances in the 2019-20 season include their US debut at the Phillips Collection in Washington, alongside appearances at several festivals including the Oxford Lieder, Stratford International, Belfast International, Cheltenham, Presteigne, and Lichfield, and participating in Beethoven cycles in the UK and Portugal.
Passionate about musical education, the quartet holds a residency at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama, where they regularly give masterclasses and performances in the Dora Stoutzker Hall. As a Cavatina Chamber Music Trust ensemble, they also give frequent workshops at primary school level where they are thrilled to share the magic of chamber music with children from diverse backgrounds.
The members of the quartet play on a fine collection of instruments, including a Stradivarius and Guarnerius.