Andrew Watkinson and Ralph de Souza, Violins
     Garfield Jackson, Viola
          David Waterman, 'Cello

Winner of the Royal Philharmonic Society Award
for Best Chamber Ensemble

"The Endellion String Quartet has forged a distinct performing style based not just on an impressive technical mastery of a wide-ranging repertory but also on an incontrovertible sense of style and - perhaps above all - on the fact that the players so obviously relish playing ... The chemistry has worked:… thrilling"
Daily Telegraph

Formed in 1979, the Endellion String Quartet is renowned as one of the finest quartets in the world. Their schedule includes regular tours of North and South America and concerts in Australasia, the Far East and every West European country. The quartet frequently visits such important European musical centres as Amsterdam, Paris, Frankfurt, Cologne, Berlin, Munich, Zurich, Geneva, Salzburg, Barcelona and Rome. Everywhere, the Endellion String Quartet 'sets the audience ablaze' (Daily Telegraph) and captivates concertgoers with a remarkable rapport, 'playing to each other with a sense almost of discovery, communicating to the audience on a level of unusual intimacy' (The Guardian).

In Britain, the Endellion Quartet has appeared at nearly all the major series and festivals and is regularly broadcast on BBC radio and television. It was recently invited by the BBC to give the 25th anniversary concert of the first ever St John's, Smith Square BBC lunchtime broadcast, repeating the original programme given by the Amadeus Quartet. Its presence in London has been marked by several series including four concerts in the 1990 South Bank Haydn Festival, five in the 1988 South Bank Summerscope Festival and six in their 1991 Wigmore Hall complete Beethoven cycle. In the first 'Quartet Plus' series at the South Bank in 1991 the Quartet were Artistic Directors and the success of this project led the South Bank to invite the Endellions to direct a further 'Quartet Plus' series in July 1994. Another 'Quartet Plus' series followed at Wigmore Hall in 1996. The Quartet has worked with guest artists including members of the former Amadeus Quartet, Steven Isserlis, Joshua Bell, Mitsuko Uchida, Thomas Allen and Tabea Zimmerman. In 1997 the Quartet were "International Artists in Residence" at Bath International Festival, and gave their first chamber concert at the Proms as well as a celebratory 18th birthday performance at the Queen Elizabeth Hall.

The Endellions' 1987 recording for EMI of the complete string chamber music of Britten was selected as Chamber Music Recording of the Year by both the Daily Telegraph and The Guardian, and was the most highly recommended version in Radio 3's Record Review. Subsequently, the Quartet began a series of recordings for Virgin Classics. One of these, Haydn's Op 54, was the only quartet record featured in Radio 3's Critics' Choice of Records of the Year. The Endellions have also recorded Mozart, Bartok, Dvorak, Foulds, Smetana, Walton and Bridge. Recent releases include Barber's String Quartet and "Dover Beach" with Thomas Allen for Virgin Classics, described by Gramophone as a "marvellous disc"; works by Amy Beach and Rebecca Clarke for ASV; and a Schubert bicentenary celebration disc for BBC Music Magazine. In early 1998 EMI released "Arcadiana", the Endellion quartet's commission from the young British composer Thomas Adès, a disc that subsequently received the "Editor's Choice" award in the 1998 Gramophone Awards. Awaiting release is the Endellions' recording of the complete string chamber music of Tchaikovsky.

The Endellion String Quartet has been Quartet in Residence at Cambridge University since October 1992, and in April 1995 undertook a prestigious short-term residency at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the USA, the success of which resulted in the Quartet being awarded an honorary degree, and a similar Residency in 1997. Next season will see the quartet undertaking a series of performances of Haydn's "Seven Last Words of our Saviour on the Cross" with meditations commissioned by the quartet from Poet Laureate, Andrew Motion.

'It is not only the brilliance, intensity and coherence of their interpretation which engages and impresses the listener, but also their absolutely individual rhythmic, vibrant and thoughtful approach.' Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung

Contact details and further information

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