Modigliani Quartet
Philippe Bernhard, Violin
Loïc Rio, Violin
Laurent Marfaing, Viola
François Kieffer, Cello
The Modigliani Quartet, formed by four close friends in 2003 will soon celebrate 10 years together and is already one of the world’s most sought after string quartets, playing in venues like Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Cité de la Musique, Wigmore Hall, Carnegie Hall, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, Brussels’ Bozar, Vienna’s Musikverein and Konzerthaus, Salzburg’s Mozarteum, Lucerne Festival, Schwetzingen Festival, Rheingau Festival, Kissinger Sommer, Gstaad Menuhin Festival, Hohenems’ Schubertiade, Washington DC’s Library of Congress, Luxemburg’s Philharmonie , Zurich’s Tonhalle, Munich’s Herkulessaal, La Fenice in Venice.
In 2011/12, they were nominated by the Cologne Philharmonie, Hamburg’s Laeiszhalle and Baden-Baden Festpielhaus as ECHO Rising Stars. This season they also did very successful tours in Australia with clarinetist Sabine Meyer, in the United-States, China, Japan,
In 2008 the quartet started a rich collaboration with the Mirare label and has released 4 award-winning CDs, all receiving great acclaim in several countries. Their first Haydn CD was a Strad selection, their Mendelssohn CD in 2010 was a Fono Forum selection (disc of the month) and aroused admiration from critics and audiences worldwide. In 2012 their fourth CD was dedicated to youth with quartets by young Mozart, Schubert and Arriaga.
Only one year after they were formed, the quartet attracted international attention in 2004 by winning the Frits Philips String Quartet competition in Eindhoven. The Quartet then took First Prize at the Vittorio Rimbotti competition in Florence in 2005 and won the Young Concert Artists Auditions in New York in 2006.
Following their studies at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris, the Modigliani Quartet studied with the Ysaÿe Quartet in Paris, attended masterclasses by Walter Levin and György Kurtág, and then had the opportunity to work with the Artemis Quartet at the Universität der Künste in Berlin.
Thanks to the generosity and support of private sponsors, the Modigliani quartet plays on four outstanding Italian instruments:
Philippe Bernhard plays a 1780 violin by Giovanni Battista Guadagnini. Loic Rio plays a 1734 violin by Alessandro Gagliano. Laurent Marfaing plays a 1660 viola by Luigi Mariani. François Kieffer plays a 1706 cello by Matteo Goffriller (former ”Warburg").
SEASON 2012/2013
