The Smith Quartet is a UK based

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 ...

founded in 1988 that specializes in the performance of

contemporary classical music Contemporary classical music is Western art music composed close to the present day. At the beginning of the 21st-century classical music, 21st century, it commonly referred to the post-1945 Modernism (music), post-tonal music after the death of ...

, and is actively performing worldwide and recording . They have premiered over 100 works by composers such as

Kevin Volans Kevin Volans (born 26 July 1949) is a South African-born Irish composer and pianist. He studied with Karlheinz Stockhausen and Mauricio Kagel in Cologne in the 1970s and later became associated with the ''Neue Einfachheit'' (New Simplicity) mo ...

Graham Fitkin Graham Fitkin (born 19 April 1963) is a British composer, pianist and conductor. His compositions fall broadly into the minimalist and postminimalist genres. Described by ''The Independent'' in 1998 as "one of the most important of our younger com ...

Michael Nyman Michael Laurence Nyman, Order of the British Empire, CBE (born 23 March 1944) is an English composer, pianist, libretto, librettist, musicologist, and filmmaker. He is known for numerous film soundtrack, scores (many written during his lengthy ...

Karl Jenkins Sir Karl William Pamp Jenkins, , Honorary Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales, HonFLSW (born 17 February 1944) is a Welsh multi-instrumentalist and composer. His best known works include the song "Adiemus (song), Adiemus" (1995, from the Adi ...

, and

Sally Beamish Sarah Frances Beamish (born 26 August 1956) is a British composer and violist. Her works include chamber, vocal, choral and orchestral music. She has also worked in the field of music, theatre, film and television, as well as composing for ch ...

. They have also collaborated with dance companies and musicians in other genres, notably jazz composer

Django Bates Django Bates (born Leon Bates, 2 October 1960) is a British jazz musician, composer, multi-instrumentalist, band leader and educator. He plays the piano, keyboards and the tenor horn. Bates has been described as "one of the most talented musici ...

and

Britpop Britpop was a mid-1990s United Kingdom, British-based music culture movement that emphasised Britishness. Musically, Britpop produced bright, catchy alternative rock, with significant influences from British guitar pop of the 1960s and 1970s. B ...

band

Pulp Pulp may refer to: * Pulp (fruit), the inner flesh of fruit * Pulp (band), an English rock band Engineering * Pulp (paper), the fibrous material used to make paper * Dissolving pulp, highly purified cellulose used in fibre and film manufacture ...

. The quartet frequently uses amplification and live electronics in performance to expand their range of performing venues and repertoire. Their performance of

Steve Reich Stephen Michael Reich ( ; born October 3, 1936) is an American composer best known as a pioneer of minimal music in the mid to late 1960s. Reich's work is marked by its use of repetitive figures, slow harmonic rhythm, and canons. Reich descr ...

's ''

Different Trains ''Different Trains'' is a three-Movement (music), movement piece for string quartet and Tape music, tape written by Steve Reich in 1988. Background During World War II, Reich made train journeys between New York and Los Angeles to visit his par ...

'' was featured in the film Holocaust.HOLOCAUST - A Music Memorial Film from Auschwitz
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Members

Current members (2023)

*Ian Humphries (1st violin) *Rick Koster (2nd violin) *Nic Pendlebury (viola) *Deirdre Cooper (cello)

Former members

*Steven Smith (violin) *Tanya Smith (cello) *Clive Hughes (violin) *Charles Mutter (violin) *

Darragh Morgan Darragh Morgan (Belfast, 1974) is an Irish violinist. He established himself as a soloist of new music with recitals at Sonorities Festival, as well as in Prague, Malta, Nicosia, Hong Kong, South Korea, Italy, Switzerland, the Netherlands, the ...

(violin) *Sophie Harris (cello) * Philip Sheppard (cello)

References

External links

Official website
Musical groups established in 1988 English string quartets Contemporary classical music ensembles {{Classical-ensemble-stub