The Danish String Quartet © Caroline Bittencourt
The Danish String Quartet
Embodying the quintessential elements of a chamber music ensemble, the Danish String Quartet has established a reputation for their integrated sound, impeccable intonation and judicious balance. With their technical and interpretive talents matched by an infectious joy for music-making and “rampaging energy,” (Alex Ross, “The New Yorker”) the quartet is in demand worldwide by concert and festival presenters alike.
Since making their debut in 2002 at the Copenhagen Festival, the group of musical friends has demonstrated a passion for Scandinavian composers, who they frequently incorporate into adventurous contemporary programs, while also proving skilled and profound performers of the classical masters.
The Danish String Quartet’s 2015/16 season includes a release of their debut disc on ECM Records with works of Thomas Adès, Per Nørgȧrd and Hans Abrahamsen, a first-time tour of China as well as summer performances at the Mostly Mozart Festival, Maverick Concerts, Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival, Toronto Summer Music Festival and Ottawa Chamberfest. International highlights include concerts in Berlin, Copenhagen, Glasgow, London and a debut at the Louvre Museum in Paris. With increasing popularity, the Danish String Quartet is considered one of the most sought after chamber ensembles in the world. Their repertoire is diverse, from Carl Nielsen, Hans Abrahamsen, Thomas Adès, Dmitri Shostakovich to Ludwig van Beethoven, Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, Claude Debussy and Joseph Haydn. Currently in their third season with the CMS Two program, they will perform all four of the Nielsen String Quartets in the Rose Studio and the final concert of a six-concert Beethoven cycle at Alice Tully Hall.
Violinists Frederik Øland and Rune Tonsgaard Sørensen and violist Asbjørn Nørgaard met as children at a music summer camp where they played both football and music together, eventually making the transition into a serious string quartet in their teens and studying at Copenhagen’s Royal Academy of Music. In 2008 the three Danes were joined by Norwegian cellist Fredrik Schøyen Sjölin. The Danish String Quartet was primarily taught and mentored by Professor Tim Frederiksen and have participated in master classes with the Tokyo and Emerson String Quartets, Alasdair Tait, Paul Katz, Hugh Maguire, Levon Chilingirian and Gábor Takács-Nagy.
As of June 2016