The Gabrieli String Quartet is a well-known

string quartet The term string quartet refers to either a type of musical composition or a group of four people who play them. Many composers from the mid-18th century onwards wrote string quartets. The associated musical ensemble consists of two Violin, violini ...

musical ensemble founded in 1966. It has a long residency association with

Essex University The University of Essex is a public research university in Essex, England. Established by royal charter in 1965, it is one of the original plate glass universities. The university comprises three campuses in the county, in Southend-on-Sea and ...

, UK.

Personnel

1st violin: *Kenneth Sillito (1966-1986) * John Georgiadis (1986-1990) * Konstantin Stoianov (1993-1994) * Yossi Zivoni (1995-2000) 2nd violin: *Claire Simpson (1966-1969) *Brendan O'Reilly (1969-2015) viola *Ian Jewel cello *Keith Harvey

Origins and activities

The Quartet was founded and first performed in 1966. It has toured to Europe, North America, the Far East and Australia. In UK it performs at

Aldeburgh Festival The Aldeburgh Festival of Music and the Arts is an English arts festival devoted mainly to classical music. It takes place each June in the town of Aldeburgh, Suffolk and is centred on Snape Maltings Concert Hall. History of the Aldeburgh Festi ...

, the

City of London Festival The City of London Festival was an annual arts festival that took place in the City of London, England, over two to three weeks in June and July. The Festival was strongly geared towards classical music, but also offered a programme that included ...

and the

Cheltenham Festival The Cheltenham Festival is a horse racing-based meeting in the National Hunt racing calendar in the United Kingdom, with race prize money second only to the Grand National. The four-day festival takes place annually in March at Cheltenham Race ...

. It also performs every year in the Mostly Mozart Festival of the London

Barbican Centre The Barbican Centre is a performing arts centre in the Barbican Estate of the City of London, England, and the largest of its kind in Europe. The centre hosts classical and contemporary music concerts, theatre performances, film screenings a ...

. The Quartet have been resident artists at

since 1971. They have given world premieres of works by

William Alwyn William Alwyn (born William Alwyn Smith; 7 November 1905 – 11 September 1985), was a prolific English composer, Conducting, conductor, and music teacher who composed over 200 cinematic scores, of which some 70 were for full-length features, ...

Benjamin Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten of Aldeburgh (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, o ...

Alan Bush Alan Dudley Bush (22 December 1900 – 31 October 1995) was a British composer, pianist, conductor, teacher and political activist. A committed communist, his uncompromising political beliefs were often reflected in his music. He composed prol ...

, Daniel Jones,

Gordon Crosse Gordon Crosse (1 December 1937 – 21 November 2021) was an English composer. Biography Crosse was born in Bury, Lancashire on 1 December 1937, and in 1961 graduated from St Edmund Hall, Oxford with a first class honours degree in music, where h ...

Nicholas Maw John Nicholas Maw (5 November 1935 – 19 May 2009) was a British composer. Among his works are the operas '' The Rising of the Moon'' (1970) and '' Sophie's Choice'' (2002). Biography Born in Grantham, Lincolnshire, Maw was the son of Clarence ...

, Panufnik and John McCabe. They also gave the British premiere of the

Sibelius Jean Sibelius (; ; born Johan Julius Christian Sibelius; 8 December 186520 September 1957) was a Finnish composer of the late Romantic and early modern periods. He is widely regarded as his country's greatest composer, and his music is often ...

piano quintet. They have made many recordings. Keith Harvey, cellist of the quartet, died on 28 April 2017, aged 79.Keith Harvey, cellist – obituary
''The Daily Telegraph'', 5 May 2017. Retrieved 25 May 2017.

Notes and references

External links

Kenneth Sillito discography

Notice of Ian Jewell

Notice of Keith Harvey

Notice of Brendan O'Reilly
English string quartets Musical groups established in 1966 1966 establishments in England {{Classical-ensemble-stub