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Castalian String Quartet

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PRESS ACCLAIM

"Outstanding….. a series of intricately connected works, each performed with rare beauty and originality by a quartet working at the height of its powers."

-BBC Magazine

"The Castalian Quartet makes the simplest things we hear into the most important things we could ever want to hear.... There were times that I simply could not believe my ears."

-Calgary Herald

"The Clarinet Quintet, a desert island choice for many of us, given a desert island-worthy performance here, ended the concert. To hear this music, so full of poetry, joy and sorrow, realised to such perfection, felt like a miracle.”

-The Guardian (UK)

“Deep contemplation and vivid spontaneity…The quartet’s [playing] is nothing short of a revelation in its lucidity of line and sheer beauty of sound.”

-BBC Music Magazine

“The Castalian Quartet play it for all its worth in a performance that is little short of a revelation…. [The Quartet] picks part the piece’s dense arguments and conveys its vivid textures superbly in a fiercely committed account.”

– Gramophone

REPERTOIRE

2026-27 PROGRAMS

Nov 6-20, 2026

&

Feb 12-28, 2027    

MASTER LIST OF PIECES REPERTORY

(use to request your preferred program)

(* = available for February 2027 tour only)

 

Eleanor Alberga: String Quartet No.2 (1994)

Beethoven:  Quartet in F-Major, Op. 18, No. 1

*Beethoven:  Quartet in D-Major, Op. 18, No. 3

Beethoven:  Quartet in A-Major. Op. 18, No. 5

*Beethoven:  Quartet in F-Major, Op. 59, No. 1

Beethoven:  Quartet in F-Major, Op. 135

Brahms:  Quartet in C-minor, Op. 51, No. 1

Haydn:  Quartet in D-minor, Op. 103

Hildegard von Bingen: ‘Three Antiphones’

Aaron Kernis: “Musica Celestis” (1990)

Thomas Larcher: New Work (Vienna Konzerthaus world premiere June 2026)

Florence Price: Quartet No. 1 in G-Major 

Wolfgang Rihm: “Tristesse d’une étoile”

Schubert:  Quartet in C-minor, D. 703 (“Quartettsatz”)

SPECIFIC SUGGESTED PROGRAMS:

other combinations possible by request)

Program 1:  Beethoven 18/1, Thomas Larcher new work //

Beethoven 59/1
 

Program 2:  Beethoven 18/3, Eleanor Alberga No. 2 //  Brahms 51/1
 

Program 3:  Beethoven 18/5, Mendelssohn Op. 13 // 

Hildegard “3 Antiphones”; Beethoven 135
 

Program 4 (“Searching for Answers”): 
Haydn: Op.103

Florence Price: Quartet in G-Major

Schubert: Quartettsatz (with Andante fragment)

Aaron  Kernis: Musica Celestis

*****intermission*****

Wolfgang Rihm: Tristesse d’une étoile

Beethoven Op.135

​

Special offering:  the six quartets of Felix Mendelssohn. 

(Offered as a 2-concert cycle only)

March 2025

BIOGRAPHY

Sini Simonen, violin

Daniel Roberts, violin

Natalie Loughran, viola

Steffan Morris, cello

“Deep contemplation and vivid spontaneity… nothing short of a revelation in its lucidity of line and sheer beauty of sound.”
— BBC Music Magazine

Since its formation in 2011, the London-based Castalian Quartet has distinguished itself as one of the most dynamic, sophisticated young string quartets performing today. Gaining renown for interpretations “full of poetry, joy and sorrow, realised to such perfection” (The Observer), they are the first Hans Keller String Quartet in Residence at the University of Oxford and were named Young Artist of the Year at the 2019 Royal Philharmonic Society Awards. The Quartet works with many living composers, including recent premieres of works by Mark-Anthony Turnage, Charlotte Bray, and Edmund Finnis.

In November 2024, the Quartet returns to North America for performances in Vancouver, Indianapolis, College Park (MD), Montreal, Boston, and Utica (NY). Recent debuts include New York’s Carnegie Hall, the Berlin Philharmonie, Vienna Konzerthaus, Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie and Paris Philharmonie.

The Castalian String Quartet’s 2022 release Between Two Words (Delphian Records), presenting music by Orlando di Lasso, Thomas Adès, Ludwig van Beethoven and John Dowland, was given a double five-star review as BBC Music Magazine’s ‘Album of the Month’: “this outstanding disc offers listeners a true philosophical journey…a series of intricately connected works, each performed with rare beauty and originality by a quartet at the height of its powers…[the Heiliger Dankgesang from Beethoven Op.132] is nothing short of a revelation in its lucidity of line and sheer beauty of sound.”

Formed in 2011, the quartet studied with Oliver Wille at the Hochschule für Musik, Hannover, before being selected by the Young Classical Artists Trust (YCAT) in 2016. They were awarded First Prize at the 2015 Lyon International Chamber Music Competition and in 2018 were recipients of the inaugural Merito String Quartet Award and Valentin Erben Prize, and a prestigious Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship.

The quartet’s name is derived from the Castalian Spring in the ancient city of Delphi. According to Greek mythology, the nymph Castalia transformed herself into a fountain to evade Apollo’s pursuit, thus creating a source of poetic inspiration for all who drink from her waters. Committed to inspiring a diverse audience for classical music, the Castalians have performed everywhere from the great concert halls to maximum security prisons and even the Colombian rainforest. When not on stage, Finnish first violinist Sini Simonen bags Munros, American violist Natalie Loughran mixes mean cocktails and the Welshmen, second violinist Daniel Roberts and cellist Steffan Morris, get overly emotional about rugby.



2024-25 season

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