Sini Simonen, violin | Daniel Roberts, violin | Ruth Gibson, viola* | Steffan Morris, cello

* Natalie Loughran has graciously agreed to perform with the Castalian Quartet during Ruth Gibson’s maternity leave

The Castalian String Quartet is taking the international chamber music scene by storm. They were announced as the first Hans Keller String Quartet in Residence at the University of Oxford and were 2019 Royal Philharmonic Society Young Artist of the Year. They recorded Haydn’s Op.76 quartets for the Wigmore Live label and were joined by pianists Sir Stephen Hough and Cédric Tiberghien, violist Isabel Charisius and clarinetist Michaels Collins for a Brahms and Schumann series in the 2019-20 season. The Castalian String Quartet’s 2022 release Between Two Words (Delphian Records) was given a double five-star review as BBC Music Magazine’s “Album of the Month.”

Formed in 2011, the quartet studied with Oliver Wille at the Hochschule für Musik, Hannover, before being selected by the Young Classical Artists Trust (YCAT) in 2016. They were awarded First Prize at the 2015 Lyon International Chamber Music Competition, the 2018 inaugural Merito String Quartet Award and Valentin Erben Prize, and a prestigious Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship. The quartet’s name is derived from the Castalian Spring in the ancient city of Delphi. Committed to inspiring a diverse audience for classical music, the Castalians have performed everywhere from the great concert halls to maximum security prisons and even the Colombian rainforest. When not on stage, Finnish first violinist Sini Simonen bags Munros, Irish violist Ruth Gibson teaches yoga and the Welshmen second violinist Daniel Roberts and cellist Steffan Morris get overly emotional about rugby.