Hyperion Records

Winner of the prestigious Royal Philharmonic Society Award for Chamber Music in 2007, the Dante Quartet is known for its imaginative programming and the emotional intensity of its performances. The group was founded in 1995 at the International Musicians Seminar at Prussia Cove, Cornwall, and chose the name of Dante to reflect the idea of a great and challenging journey.

The Dante Quartet plays at major concert halls, music societies and festivals throughout the United Kingdom, and in the past two years has appeared at the Aldeburgh, Bath, Cheltenham, Spitalfields, Hay, Brighton, Presteigne and City of London Festivals as well as at Wigmore Hall. The quartet broadcasts regularly on BBC Radio 3 and has also performed in France, Holland, Spain, Switzerland, Poland, Finland, and at the Nuremberg Festival.

The Dante Quartet enjoys a special association with King’s College, Cambridge, including masterclasses, collaborations with King’s College Choir and concerts with poetry readings. The quartet has taught at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, at Dartington and Cadenza Summer Schools and in Spain, and worked in association with the pioneering Cavatina Chamber Music Trust. Concert engagements are often combined with open rehearsals or workshops for young people, and the Dante Quartet offers special programmes to children in schools who might never otherwise hear live classical music.

In 2004 the quartet launched the Dante Summer Music Festival in Cornwall, offering an eclectic mix of quartet concerts, folk music, feasting and dancing, and workshops for children.