Ben Hancox – Violin I Hannah Dawson – Violin II Robin Aswell - Viola Cara Berridge - Cello
Formed in 2001 at the Royal College of Music, the Sacconi Quartet is rapidly gaining an enviable reputation as one of the outstanding quartets of their generation. Over the last year the Quartet has won 2nd Prize at the 2006 London International String Quartet Competition, along with the Esterhazy Prize & Sydney Griller Award, and 1st Prize in the Trondheim International String Quartet Competition. They also won the Kurtag Prize at the Bordeaux International String Quartet Competition, 1st Prize in the Royal Over-Seas League chamber music competition and were shortlisted for a Royal Philharmonic Society award. In May 2006 the Quartet was selected for representation by Young Concert Artists Trust (YCAT).
Last season the Quartet gave recitals at Wigmore Hall, Purcell Room, the Aldeburgh and Lincoln International Chamber Music Festivals and appeared at numerous festivals and venues throughout the UK. They also made their debut at the Holland Festival to great acclaim. They have collaborated with the Chilingirian Quartet, Wihan Quartet, David Campbell, Morgan Szymanski, Tim Boulton, Lawrence Power and Raphael Wallfisch in quintet, sextet and octet concerts.
This Autumn the Quartet tours the UK as part of the IMS Prussia Cove ensemble, working with Chloe Hanslip, Ian Brown and Christoph Richter. They go on to perform three complete cycles of the Mozart string quartets and quintets with Simon Rowland-Jones. Engagements during the season include return visits to Wigmore Hall (5 October and 27 November), concerts at Cadogan Hall (28 January), St. George's Bristol, the Canterbury, Bangor New Music and Lincoln Mozart Festivals. Abroad the Quartet appear at the St. Olav Festival in Trondheim, Norway and give recitals in Geneva, France and Italy.
Future plans include a series of concerts in Switzerland and a Haydn recital in the prestigious Liceo da Camara series in Madrid. Their recording of Finzi's song cycle By Footpath and Stile with baritone Roderick Watkins has just been released on NAXOS. The Sacconi Quartet hold the Leverhulme Junior Fellowship at the Royal College of Music. They pursue a keen interest in education work, collaborating with the Cavatina Chamber Music Trust, Live Music Now! and Wigmore Hall schemes, making regular visits to schools, hospitals and community venues.
The name Sacconi Quartet comes from the outstanding twentieth-century Italian violin maker and restorer Simone Sacconi, whose book The Secrets of Stradivari is considered an indispensable reference for violin makers.
