The Barbirolli Quartet

The Barbirolli Quartet holds an international reputation for its diverse, prolific repertoire and dynamic approach to performance. The Times has described them as “forthright, full-blooded musicians, afraid of nothing” and The Strad hailed their “superbly realised performance” and “precision of ensemble at formidable rates of energy”.
 
Following their selection by the European Concert Halls Organisation (ECHO) as the UK Concert Halls’ nominated ‘Rising Stars’ 09-10, the Barbirolli Quartet toured the major concert halls of Europe, with performances in Birmingham, Paris, Barcelona, Luxembourg, Vienna, Salzburg, Athens, Stockholm, Cologne, Brussels, Amsterdam, Hamburg and Baden-Baden. 2010 also included a return to Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, as part of the Stichting Kamermuziek Festival, and their Kirckman Concert Society Award recital at the Wigmore Hall.

This season’s highlights include a series of concerts at the Verbier, Aldeburgh and Aix-en-Provence festivals, performing Francisco Coll García’s new work, co-commissioned by the three organisations. Other performances in 2011 include the Mananan International Festival, the Lincolnshire International Chamber Music Festival, Septembre Musical Montreux Festival and the quartet’s debut at Kings Place, London, for the London Chamber Music Society.  

The Barbirolli Quartet has performed throughout the UK at venues such as St. David's Hall Cardiff, Bridgewater Hall, the Purcell Room and the Wigmore Hall, and has previously been selected for numerous concert schemes such as the Countess of Munster Musical Trust Recital Scheme, the Tunnell Trust Music Club Awards Scheme and the PLG Young Artists New Year Series. Following their highly successful appearance at the Cheltenham Festival in 2008, the quartet returned in 2009 with a collaborative performance alongside the Australian String Quartet which was filmed live; the DVD is commercially available through PlushMusic. They have also appeared at the Lichfield, Buxton, Ryedale and Harrogate Festivals and regularly perform at the Dartington International Summer School, where in 2010 they performed the Brahms Quintet with Stephen Kovacevich. Through the support of the Royal Over-Seas League, they performed in the 2009 Edinburgh Fringe Festival and toured Singapore, New Zealand and Australia, giving concerts and adjudicating the Pettman/ROSL Arts International Scholarship.
 
The Barbirolli Quartet brings together a wealth of experience, its founding members each having performed widely in their native countries of Canada, Wales and Australia before coming to England to continue their studies. Formed in 2003 at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, the quartet has since undertaken a Chamber Music Fellowship at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and a Leverhulme Chamber Music Fellowship at the Royal Academy of Music in London. The quartet has also participated in courses such as the Verbier Festival Academy, IMS Prussia Cove, Britten-Pears Young Artist Programme and the ProQuartet-CEMC Professional Training Programme, and has been fortunate enough to receive tuition from numerous master musicians. The group’s major influences are Eberhard Feltz, Gábor Takács-Nagy, Erich Höbarth, András Schiff, Thomas Brandis, Alasdair Tait and the Belcea Quartet.

Performing or teaching, the Barbirollis strive to inspire people of all ages and abilities, their students ranging from those in primary to higher education, and from amateur musicians to young professionals. They frequently give masterclasses and workshops in schools and colleges around the country and collaborate with the CAVATINA Chamber Music Trust on their workshop programme for London Schools.      

In 2010 the Barbirolli Quartet received the loan of four fine Italian instruments, comprising two Guadagnini violins, a Ceruti viola and a Stradivarius cello, kindly lent to them by the Royal Academy of Music. The quartet is very grateful for the generous support they have received from the Richard Carne Trust, the Wingate Foundation and a Verbier Festival Academy CUBS Prize, and also to the University of Salford where the group has been in residence since its inception.

Rakhi Singh (violin) was born in Wales but is now based in London.  At the age of fourteen she won the Audi Junior Musician of the Year, performing the Bruch Violin Concerto no. 1 with the London Philharmonic in the Queen Elizabeth Hall, which was broadcast live on Classic fm.  Since then she has won numerous awards including the Texaco Young Musician of Wales, Bryn Terfel Scholarship, the Prince of Wales Award and Arts and Humanities Research Council Award. Aside from chamber music she performs regularly with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic (as guest co-leader) and The Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields. Recent collaborations include touring with Take That and a piece for two dancers and solo violin for the National Dance Company of Wales.

Katie Stillman (violin) was chosen for the Tillett Trust’s Young Artists’ Platform in 2005 and in 2006 was awarded the Maisie Lewis Award from the Worshipful Company of Musicians. She was prize-winner at the International Stepping Stones Competition the same year. Engagements have included a lunchtime recital for the Manchester Mid-day series at Bridgewater Hall, her Purcell Room debut as part of the Park Lane Group ‘Young Artists’ New Year Series 2007, a concerto performance with the London Mozart Players and recitals at St. John’s Smith Square, St. James's Piccadilly, St George’s Bristol and Wigmore Hall.  

Ella Brinch (viola) has received numerous awards and scholarships both in Australia and England. She has performed with many orchestras including the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Academy of St Martin in the Fields and the Philharmonia. Ella has been in high demand as a chamber musician appearing in various ensembles with artists such as Sakari Oramo, Alina Pogostkina and Peter Donohoe.

Ashok Klouda (cello) was winner of the 2006 J. & A. Beare Solo Bach Competition and the 2007 Royal College of Music Cello Competition, and made his solo Wigmore Hall debut in 2010, having won the Worshipful Company of Musicians/Concordia Foundation Young Artists Fund competition. He is also a Tunnell Trust Award winner, with duo partner Joseph Middleton, and will tour Scotland in 2011. Ashok has studied under some of the world’s finest teachers including Colin Carr, Jérôme Pernoo and Louise Hopkins at the Royal Academy of Music, Royal College of Music and Hochschule der Künste Bern.