Sacconi Quartet

The Sacconi Quartet is a string quartet founded in 2001 by four graduates of the Royal College of Music, London, UK. The quartet retains its founding members, who are: Ben Hancox and Hannah Dawson on violin, Robin Ashwell on viola, and Cara Berridge on 'cello. The Sacconi Quartet has been very successful in string quartet and chamber music competitions, winning several major prizes, and they have given recitals in leading British concert halls and at music festivals in Britain and elsewhere in Europe. The quartet is named for the outstanding twentieth-century Italian violin maker and restorer Simone Sacconi, whose book "The Secrets of Stradivari" is considered an indispensable reference for violin makers.

Repertoire

The Sacconi Quartet plays music from all periods, from the baroque to contemporary art music. Within this broad range, they have focused on the repertoire of the First Viennese School, particularly the chamber music of Mozart and Haydn. The Sacconi Quartet's twentieth-century repertoire includes works for string quartets by Nicolas Bacri, Samuel Barber, Gyorgy Kurtag and Michael Tippett.

Appearances

The Sacconi Quartet have given recitals at the Wigmore Hall, London, and the Purcell Room on the South Bank, London. They have appeared by invitation at the Aldeburgh Festival, the Lincoln International Chamber Music Festival, the Edinburgh International Festival and the Holland Festival. They have collaborated with the Chilingirian Quartet, the Wihan Quartet, David Campbell, Morgan Szymanski, Tim Boulton, Lawrence Power and Raphael Wallfisch in quintet, sextet and octet concerts. During summer 2006, the quartet appeared at the St. Olav Festival in Trondheim, Norway. In autumn 2006, they toured the UK as part of the IMS Prussia Cove ensemble working with Chloe Hanslip, Ian Brown and Christoph Richter.

Future appearances during 2006 and 2007 include return visits to Wigmore Hall, concerts at Cadogan Hall, London, St. George's Bristol, the Canterbury Festival, the Bangor New Music Festival and the Lincoln Mozart Festival, all in the UK. In continental Europe, the Quartet will give recitals in France, Italy and Spain, and also a series of concerts in Switzerland.

The Sacconi Quartet also pursue a keen interest in education work, collaborating with the education programmes of the Cavatina Chamber Music Trust, Live Music Now! and the Wigmore Hall, making regular visits to schools, hospitals and community venues. The quartet were also tutors at the 2008 Aberystwyth Musicfest festival for young people.

In May 2008, the Sacconi Quartet will host the first annual "Sacconi Festival" in Folkestone, in St Mary & St Eanswythe's Church, Folkestone, Kent, UK.

Awards and Recognition

* First Prize, Trondheim International String Quartet Competition, Norway, 2005.

* Kurtag Prize, Bordeaux International String Quartet Competition, France, 2005.

* First Prize in the Royal Over-Seas League Chamber Music Competition, UK 2005.

* Leverhulme Junior Fellows, Royal College of Music, UK.

* Second Prize, London International String Quartet Competition, UK, 2006.

* The Esterhazy Prize for the best performance of a Haydn quartet in the Preliminary Round, London International String Quartet Competition, UK, 2006.

* The Sidney Griller Award for the best performance of the three compulsory pieces in the Preliminary Round, London International String Quartet Competition, UK, 2006.

* Shortlisted for a Royal Philharmonic Society award, UK, 2006.

* Selected for representation by Young Concert Artists Trust (YCAT), UK, 2006.

* Awarded an Angel Award for outstanding performances in the Edinburgh International Festival by The Herald newspaper, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK, August 2006.

Recordings

* "Gerald Finzi, Songs: Earth and Air and Rain/By Footpath and Stile/To A Poet": Roderick Williams (baritone), Iain Burnside (piano) and The Sacconi Quartet. The English Song Series 15. Naxos (2006).

External links

* [http://www.sacconi.com/ Official website of the Sacconi Quartet]

* [http://www.lsqf.com/lic2006-final-prizes-semifinal.shtml Prize Winners in the 2006 London International String Quartet Competition]

* [http://www.i-m-s.org.uk/home.html IMS Prussia Cove]