Heath Quartet - Looking East

The Heath Quartet: Looking East

Sunday 02 February 2025 at 15:30

Immerse yourself in the rich musical traditions of Eastern Europe! The acclaimed Heath Quartet presents a captivating programme that blends the brilliance of Grazyna Bacewicz, one of Poland’s most celebrated composers, with Haydn’s innovative 'Prussian' quartet and the lush, folkloric charm of Dvorák’s 'Slavonic' quartet - celebrating heritage, innovation, and timeless beauty.

The Heath Quartet formed in 2002 at the Royal Northern College of Music. They were selected for representation by YCAT, won the 2008 TROMP competition, and the 2012 Ensemble Prize at the Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, where they are now regular visitors. In 2016 they won the GRAMOPHONE Chamber Award for their recording of the Tippett quartets, and in May 2013 became the first ensemble in fifteen years to win the prestigious RPS Young Artists Award. Their Tippett album was followed by two discs recorded for Harmonia Mundi/PIAS and part-funded by a BBT Special Ensemble Scholarship featuring Tchaikovsky’s first and third quartets (BBC Radio 3 Disc of the Week) and the complete Bartók quartets (2017 Limelight Chamber Music Award; nominated for 2018 GRAMOPHONE Chamber Award). Their most recent release on Signum Records with Carolyn Sampson features works by Berg, Webern and Schoenberg. 

The 23/24 season saw the quartet return to the USA with concerts in Minnesota, New Hampshire and Vermont, perform the opening concert in the refurbished Brighton Corn Exchange, and continue their longstanding relationship with Wigmore Hall with three recitals over the season. Other appearances include Brighton, Latimer and Three Choirs Festivals (the latter including a special concert in tribute to Steve Martland) Oxford Coffee Concerts and Lake District Music. Collaborations include pianists Tom Poster and Charles Owen, horn player Ben Goldscheider, cellist Anastasia Kobekina, the Elias Quartet, and clarinettists Matthias Schorn and Robert Plane.

Recent highlights include a two-season residency at Berlin’s Pierre Boulez Saal, their Barcelona debut in Palau de la Musica Catalana, a Beethoven series at Bath Festival, debuts at Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Saffron Hall and Cheltenham Festival, as well as concerts at Handelsbeurs Ghent, Aldeburgh and Norfolk & Norwich festivals.

This concert will be approximately 1 hour in duration, without an interval.