The Brodsky Quartet is a British string quartet, formed in

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

, North Yorkshire, in 1972 as the "Cleveland Quartet". Only Ian Belton and Jacqueline Thomas remain as original members. In addition to performing classical music, and in particular the string quartet repertoire of

Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( , ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions to musical form have led ...

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classic ...

Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast ''oeuvre'', including more than 600 secular vocal wor ...

, Bartók and

Shostakovich Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich, , group=n (9 August 1975) was a Soviet-era Russian composer and pianist who became internationally known after the premiere of his First Symphony in 1926 and was regarded throughout his life as a major compo ...

, they have collaborated with such

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

and pop figures as Björk, Elvis Costello and

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...

. They perform the "Strings" on Björk's ''Family Tree'' box set. This material mostly comes from concerts Björk and the Brodsky gave at London's Union Chapel in December 1999. The quartet used to perform standing up. Jacqueline Thomas had her cello fitted with an extra-long spike and used a small stool under her left foot, so that the instrument could rest against her bent knee. In May 1998 the Brodsky Quartet was presented with a

Royal Philharmonic The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London, that performs and produces primarily classic works. The RPO was established by Thomas Beecham in 1946. In its early days, the orchestra secured profitable ...

Society Award for an outstanding contribution to the world of

music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspe ...

. As well as their performance and recording work, the Brodsky Quartet is currently the visiting quartet at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, where they regularly tutor young chamber music ensembles who attend the academy. For fourteen years they taught and performed at the

Dartington International Summer School Dartington International Summer School is a summer school and festival of music held on the medieval estate of Dartington Hall and is a department of the Dartington Trust. Operation First established at Bryanston School in 1948 (largely throu ...

. The Brodsky Quartet is not the first quartet of that name. They are named for Russian violinist

Adolph Brodsky Adolph Davidovich Brodsky (russian: Адольф Давидович Бродский, ''Adolf Davidovič Brodskij''; – 22 January 1929) was a Russian violinist. He enjoyed a long and illustrious career as a performer and teacher, starting ear ...

(1851–1929), who himself had led two quartets himself under that name. In 1918 Edward Elgar dedicated his String Quartet in E minor, Op. 83 to the 2nd Adolph Brodsky quartet. In 2016, the Quartet recorded an album with Australian

Katie Noonan Katie Anne Noonan (born 2 May 1977) is an Australian singer-songwriter. In addition to a successful solo career encompassing opera, jazz, pop, rock and dance, she was the singer in the band George and remains the singer in the band Elixir; perf ...

called ''

With Love and Fury ''With Love and Fury'' is a collaborative studio album by British string quartet the Brodsky Quartet and Australian singer songwriter Katie Noonan. The album has been described as a fusion of their styles into an incredibly composed and creati ...

'', which re-imagines the poetry of

Judith Wright Judith Arundell Wright (31 May 191525 June 2000) was an Australian poet, environmentalist and campaigner for Aboriginal land rights. She was a recipient of the Christopher Brennan Award. Biography Judith Wright was born in Armidale, New So ...

. In 2019 it was announced that Daniel Rowland was leaving the post of leader and that Gina McCormack would replace him from May 2019. In May 2021 it was announced that Gina McCormack was stepping down as leader and that Krysia Osostowicz would replace her.

Members

1972–1982 * Michael Thomas * Ian Belton * Alexander Robertson * Jacqueline Thomas 1982–1999 * Michael Thomas * Ian Belton * Paul Cassidy * Jacqueline Thomas 1999–2007 * Andrew Haveron * Ian Belton * Paul Cassidy * Jacqueline Thomas 2007–2019 * Daniel Rowland, * Ian Belton * Paul Cassidy * Jacqueline Thomas 2019–2021 * Gina McCormack,

violin The violin, sometimes known as a '' fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone ( string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument ( soprano) in the family in regu ...

* Ian Belton, violin * Paul Cassidy,

viola ; german: Bratsche , alt=Viola shown from the front and the side , image=Bratsche.jpg , caption= , background=string , hornbostel_sachs=321.322-71 , hornbostel_sachs_desc=Composite chordophone sounded by a bow , range= , related= *Violin family ...

* Jacqueline Thomas,

cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G ...

2021- * Krysia Osostowicz,

* Ian Belton, violin * Paul Cassidy,

* Jacqueline Thomas,

Awards and nominations

ARIA Music Awards

The ARIA Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of Australian music. They commenced in 1987. ! , - ,

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

, ''

'' (with

) ,

Best Classical Album The Grammy Award for Best Classical Album was awarded from 1962 to 2011. The award had several minor name changes: *From 1962 to 1963, 1965 to 1972 and 1974 to 1976 the award was known as Album of the Year – Classical *In 1964 and 1977 it wa ...

, , ARIA Award previous winners. , -

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brodsky Quartet English string quartets Musical groups established in 1972