Morrison Artists Series: Van Kuijk Quartet

Sunday, April 15, 2018, 3:00 pm
Photo of Van Kuijk Quartet standing in an alley
Winner of the 2015 Wigmore Hall International String Quartet Competition, this lauded young French quartet makes its Morrison Artists Series debut. Pre-concert talk: 2pm. Master class: April 16, noon - 2pm, Knuth Hall. Free.
Location: 
Creative Arts Building, McKenna Theatre
Directions: 
Sponsor: 
May T. Morrison Chamber Music Center
Contact: 
SF State Box Office
Phone: 
415-338-2467
Event extras: 

“Style, energy, huge potential and, above all, a sense of risk. ... These four young Frenchmen made the music smile, and would have made Beethoven do the same.” — The Guardian

Van Kuijk Quartet

  • Nicolas Van Kuijk, violin
  • Sylvain Favre-Bulle, violin
  • Grégoire Vecchioni, viola
  • François Robin, cello

The Van Kuijk Quartet won the first prize, Haydn prize and Beethoven prize at the 2015 Wigmore Hall International String Quartet Competition, first prize and an audience award at the Trondheim International Chamber Music Competition. Named laureates of the Aix-en-Provence Festival Academy and FNAPEC Ensembles Music Competition in France, the Van Kuijk Quartet is today among the world’s most promising young quartets.

The Van Kuijk Quartet is in residence at Proquartet, Paris, where it mentors members of the Alban Berg, Artemis and Hagen quartets. Having taken their first steps as students of the Ysaye Quartet, the young musicians now work with Günter Pichler at the Escuela Superior de Mùsica Reina Sofia in Madrid, supported by the International Institute of Chamber Music of Madrid. The quartet has taken part in the McGill International String Quartet Academy in Montreal, 58th Weikersheim International Chamber Music Academy and academies in Aix-en-Provence and Verbier. 

An established presence in major international venues, the Van Kuijk Quartet has performed at the Salle Gaveau in Paris, Wigmore Hall in London, Tivoli Concert Series in Denmark, the Sage Gateshead and at festivals in Cheltenham, North Norfolk, Heidelberg, Verbier, Aix-en-Provence and Stavanger. Upcoming appearances include the Auditorium du Louvre in Paris, the Zurich Tonhalle, and the Vienna Musikverein. 

Program

  • Felix Mendelssohn (1809 – 1847): String Quartet No. 4 in E minor, Op. 44, No. 2 (1837)
  • Akira Nishimura (1953 – ): String Quartet No. 2, Pulse of the Lights (1992)
  • Claude Debussy (1862 – 1918): String Quartet in G minor, Op. 10 (1893)

Video