ConTempo Quartet

Bogdan Sofei violin
Ingrid Nicola violin
Andreea Banciu viola
Adrian Mantu cello
with Christopher Marwood cello

The ConTempo Quartet have been Galway Music Residency’s Ensemble in Residence since 2003 and have made regular visits to Sligo to play in Con Brio concerts. They have been praised as a “fabulous foursome” (Irish Independent) and noted for performances which are “exceptional” (The Strad) and “full of imaginative daring” (The Irish Times). It is with great pleasure that we welcome them back to Sligo this season with cellist Christopher Marwood.

Mozart’s D Minor quartet K.421 is the second in the set of six quartets that Mozart dedicated to Haydn, famously describing them as his children and as ‘the fruit of long and laborious efforts’. It is the only one of the set in a minor key and the prevailing mood of intense darkness sets in memorable relief those precious moments where the music moves into a major key and the clouds lift.

Rhona Clarke’s ‘Pas de Quatre’ was written for the ConTempo Quartet in 2009. The title (A Dance for Four) is inspired by the movement between the players as they direct and interact with each other. 

Monumental, intimate, dreamy, earthy, triumphant, despairing… Schubert’s extraordinary string quintet is all of these things and more. It was the last completed work of the terminally ill 31-year-old composer and is recognised as one of the greatest works in Western music. 

Supported by Sligo Weekender and John Sharkey.