Piatti Quartet
Saturday 14 November 2026, 7.30pm
Programme
Britten 3 Divertimenti
Schubert String Quartet in A minor, D804, ‘Rosamunde’
Britten String Quartet No 1 in D major
About
Michael Trainor, violin
Emily Holland, violin
Miguel Sobrinho, viola
Jessie Ann Richardson, cello
Resident Quartet at Kings Place, London, the distinguished Piatti Quartet are widely renowned for their ‘profound music making’ (The Strad) and their ‘lyrical warmth’ (BBC Music Magazine). Since their prizewinning performances at the 2015 Wigmore Hall International String Quartet Competition, they have performed all over the world with numerous international broadcasts.
The Piattis are famed for their diverse programming and passionate interpretations across the spectrum of quartet writing with commissions and recordings of some of the most major and impressive works added to the quartet canon in recent years.
Since their inception they have always had projects in the recording studio with critically acclaimed releases through a multitude of classical music’s top recording labels. Their wide ranging discography and repertoire is thanks to their enthusiasm and curiosity in collaborating with a broad range of artists including some of the most recognisable names in classical music. Recent accolades include five star BBC Magazine reviews for 2023 Mark-Anthony Turnage: Winter’s Edge, 2024 Joseph Phibbs: Quartets and Ned Rorem: Choral Works with St. Martin’s Voices, a Presto Music Award as one of the ‘Top 10 Recordings of the Year 2023’, and a nomination for ‘Recording of the Year’ with both Limelight and Gramophone for their 2022 collaborative disc with Nicky Spence and Julius Drake on the Hyperion label. This same album entitled ‘On Wenlock Edge’ was also singled out as one of the top 20 Ralph Vaughan Williams’ recordings of all time with Gramophone Magazine. Their follow up album, Fauré: La Bonne Chanson & Other Songs, has been shortlisted for the 2025 Gramophone Awards.
Contemporary music has been ever present in their repertoire and leaving a legacy to the quartet genre through commissions is one of the quartet’s central tenets. Major commissions and dedications have stemmed from Mark-Anthony Turnage, Emily Howard, Charlotte Harding, and Joseph Phibbs whilst they have premiered a mesmerising number of new works over the years beginning with Anna Meredith back in 2009. The Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Flagey Radio Hall Brussels, Wigmore Hall London, and the Aldeburgh Festival are some of the high profile occasions where new music has been presented and recordings of Turnage, Phibbs, and Gavin Higgins’ chamber music has also been extensively lauded by critics. After the UK premiere Julian Anderson’s Ice Quartet, the composer himself described them as ‘living treasures of chamber music.’