Carducci String Quartet
© Photo: Tom Barnes
Described by The Strad as presenting “a masterclass in unanimity of musical purpose, in which severity could melt seamlessly into charm, and drama into geniality”, the award- winning Carducci Quartet is internationally acclaimed as one of the most accomplished and versatile ensembles of today.
Founded in 1997, the quartet has won numerous international competitions, including the Concert Artists Guild International Competition and the Kuhmo International Chamber Music Competition. The ensemble is celebrated for its mastery of the core repertoire, alongside a commitment to presenting new works each season and curating genre-crossing programmes that incorporate film music, jazz, folk, and spoken word.
The Carducci Quartet performs at prestigious venues worldwide, including
the Barbican, Cadogan Hall, Southbank Centre, Royal Albert Hall and Wigmore Hall, London; National Concert Hall, Dublin; Tivoli Concert Hall, Copenhagen; The Frick Collection and Carnegie Hall, New York; Library of Congress and John. F Kennedy Center, Washington D.C.; St Lawrence Center for the Arts, Toronto; Muziekcentrum De Bijloke, Ghent; and Concertgebouw, Amsterdam. Festival residencies have included Cheltenham, Ryedale, Aldeburgh, Lichfield, Presteigne, Kilkenny, Canterbury, and West Cork. They made their BBC Proms debut alongside VOCES8 in 2023.
Upcoming highlights for the 25/26 season include an extensive Schubert tour with Roderick Williams; collaborations with vocal ensemble VOCES8 and clarinettists Emma Johnson, and Julian Bliss; a Shostakovich cycle for West Cork Music, and a return to London’s Wigmore Hall.
Shostakovich’s music has long been central to the quartet’s identity. In 2016, they won a Royal Philharmonic Society Award for Shostakovich15, a global cycle of his quartets, including a marathon one-day performance at Shakespeare’s Globe. This landmark project led to a series of recordings - Quartets 4, 8, and 11, followed by 1, 2, and 7 (2019), and 9 and 15 (2024). During the 2024/25 season, they presented a five-concert cycle at the Barbican pairing Shostakovich with female Soviet composers. Their exploration continues with Shostakovich’s Letters, a collaboration with actor Anton Lesser blending the composer’s writings with his music.
In 2015 they curated projects around Philip Glass and Steve Reich as part of the
Royal Philharmonic Society Award winning ‘Minimalism Unwrapped’ at Kings Place in London. Their recording of the Philip Glass Quartets, for Naxos, has reached over 21 million plays on Spotify. The quartet will mark both composers’ 90th birthdays with a major project across the 26/27 season.
Education is central to the Carducci Quartet’s mission. Their family concert Getting the Quartet Bug! was shortlisted for an RPS Award, and in Autumn 2024 they began a two-year residency at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama. The Carducci Music Trust supports their work with schools and young musicians, and they are the Philip Carne Ensemble in Residence at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, London.
September 2025
www.carducciquartet.com
