Ireland’s longest established string quartet, the ConTempo Quartet, was founded in Bucharest in 1995 and has been based in Ireland since 2003 as Galway Music Residency’s Ensemble in Residence. They were also RTÉ’s Resident Quartet from 2014 until 2019 and have performed nearly 2000 concerts in 46 countries. Praised as a ‘fabulous foursome’ (Irish Independent) and noted for performances which are ‘exceptional’ (The Strad) and ‘full of imaginative daring’ (The Irish Times), the ConTempo Quartet has forged a unique place in Irish musical life.

Mozart’s D major quartet K.499 is one of the lesser played but its ingeniously intertwined lines create a fascinating and absorbing sound world. Raymond Deane is one of our most celebrated composers and this tour brings the first performances of his seventh string quartet. Beethoven’s C major Rasoumovsky quartet completes the programme, its sparklingly virtuosic outer movements contrasting with a moody funeral march and a quaintly old-fashioned minuet.

ConTempo Quartet

Bogdan Sofei, violin
Ingrid Nicola, violin
Andreea Banciu, viola
Adrian Mantu, cello

Programme

Mozart – String Quartet in D major K.499 [1786]
Raymond Deane – String Quartet No.7 [2024] †
Beethoven – String Quartet in C major Op.59 No.3 Razumovsky [1808]

† First performances

Since its formation in Bucharest in 1995, the Contempo Quartet has performed more than 1,800 concerts world-wide in 46 countries, including prestigious venues such as Wigmore Hall; Théâtre du Châtelet, Paris; St Martin-in-the-Fields; Berliner Philharmonie; Palazzo del Quirinale, Rome; Carnegie Hall and the Opera House Tel-Aviv. ConTempo have had the honour to meet and play in front of world personalities such as Prince Charles, Nelson Mandela, Pope John Paul II, EU Ministers, Michael D. Higgins, Hollywood stars and Nobel Prize winners. The ensemble has won a record of 14 international prizes (including Munich, Rome, Berlin, Prague and London) and worked alongside artists of the highest calibre including Emma Johnson, Yuko Inoue, Hugh Tinney, Chen Zimbalista, Jérôme Pernoo, Peter Donohue and Martin Roscoe. Collaborations with other distinguished quartets have also been a feature, such as the Amadeus, Arditti, Vanbrugh, Casals and Endellion.