The Piatti Quartet become the Resident Quartet at Kings Place for an initial two-year term starting in October. They kick off their residency with four Rush Hour Lates concerts featuring Dvořák’s late quartets in addition to a world premiere by Anna Appleby
The Piatti Quartet at Kings Place © Venetia Jollands
Kings Place today [25 May] announce the Piatti Quartet as its new Resident Quartet. The Quartet takes on the position from October 2023 for an initial period of two years, taking over from the Brodsky Quartet, whose residency lasted ten years. This announcement comes as the Piatti Quartet reveals its new line-up, with Emily Holland (violin) and Miguel Sobrinho (viola) joining Michael Trainor (violin) and Jessie Ann Richardson (cello).
As part of its residency at Kings Place, the Quartet will take on the venue’s Rush Hour Lates series with four concerts throughout the 2023/2024 season. The concerts – each beginning at 6:45pm – focus on Dvořák’s late works, including his last three quartets as well as his second piano quintet. Each work by Dvořák will be paired with a musical prelude, including Schubert’s Quartetsatz, Ina Boyle’s Quartet in E minor, Webern’s LangsamerSatz and Charlotte Harding’s Iorsa – a work that was commissioned by the Quartet and Three Choirs Festival in 2022. A highlight of the series will be the world premiere of a new piece written by Manchester-based composer Anna Appleby, commissioned by the Quartet [14 Feb 2024]. The Quartet will be joined by Emmanuel Despax for the performance of Dvořák’s Piano Quintet No. 2.
Helen Wallace, Artistic and Executive Director of Kings Place, said: ‘We couldn’t be happier to welcome the Piatti Quartet as our new Resident Quartet at Kings Place. Aside from the sheer quality and vibrant character of their music-making, this fearless young group already have an impressive legacy of new works, a string of acclaimed recordings and deep creative relationships to their name. Their fresh, dynamic and open approach is an ideal fit for Kings Place.’
Commenting on their residency, The Piatti Quartet said: ‘Kings Place is cutting edge, it’s everything that’s innovative and fresh on the music scene. It’s very welcoming, with a brilliant, intimate and yet spacious hall, perfect for chamber music. It means a huge amount to us to have a home here where we feel supported. It’s a place where we can plan and build connections with an audience over a long period of time which is really special and important to us.’
The 50-minute Rush Hour concerts will shine a light on Dvořák’s late works, with the Quartet suggesting that ‘these late quartets are so special and we hope these curated programmes will allow audiences to fully appreciate the dynamic and powerful timbre of these compelling, eloquent and passionate works’.
The Piatti Quartet rose to fame following their prizewinning performance at the 2015 Wigmore Hall String Quartet Competition and has since performed all around the world. Performing and commissioning contemporary music has always been a key component of the Quartet’s repertoire, and the performance of Anna Appleby’s new work – commissioned by the Quartet – reflects their ongoing commitment to this.