Since forming in 1972, the Brodsky Quartet have performed over 3,000 concerts on the major stages of the world and have released more than 70 recordings. Now celebrating their 50th anniversary, the Brodsky Quartet have enjoyed a busy international performing schedule, and have extensively toured the major festivals and venues throughout Australasia, North and South America, Asia, South Africa and Europe, as well as in the UK, where the quartet is based.

 

 

One of the best-loved and most versatile opera stars of the last 40 years, Sir Willard White's illustrious career has taken him to the most prestigious opera houses and concert halls throughout the world, collaborating with conductors, directors and orchestras of the highest calibre. Sir Willard White was awarded the CBE in 1995 and was knighted in the Queen’s Birthday Honours in 2004.

This collaboration between Brodsky Quartet and Sir Willard White will present a repertoire including Frank Sinatra, Gershwin and many others that the audiences are most familiar with.

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Brodsky Quartet
Since forming in 1972, the Brodsky Quartet have performed over 3,000 concerts on the major stages of the world and have released more than 70 recordings. A natural curiosity and an insatiable desire to explore has propelled the group in a number of artistic directions and continues to ensure them not only a prominent presence on the international chamber music scene, but also a rich and varied musical existence. Their energy and craftsmanship have attracted numerous awards and accolades worldwide, while their ongoing educational work provides a vehicle to pass on experience and stay in touch with the next generation.

Now celebrating their 50th anniversary, the Brodsky Quartet have enjoyed a busy international performing schedule, and have extensively toured the major festivals and venues throughout Australasia, North and South America, Asia, South Africa and Europe, as well as in the UK, where the quartet is based. Over the years, the Brodsky Quartet have undertaken numerous performances of the complete cycles of quartets by Schubert, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Britten, Schoenberg, Zemlinsky, Webern and Bartok. It is, however, the complete Shostakovich cycle that has now become synonymous with their name: their 2012 London performance of the cycle resulted in their taking the prestigious title ‘Artistic Associate’ at London’s Kings Place – a residency which lasted ten years – and, in October 2016, they released their second recording of the cycle, this time live from the Muziekgebouw, Amsterdam.

The Brodsky Quartet have always had a busy recording career and currently enjoy an exclusive and fruitful relationship with Chandos Records. Releases on the label include ‘Petits Fours’ – a celebratory album of ‘encore’ pieces arranged exclusively by the quartet for their 40th anniversary – the complete quartets of Shostakovich recorded live, the Elgar String Quartet and Piano Quintet with Martin Roscoe, and ‘Rocking Horse Road’ which is a celebration of their long-standing collaboration with Jacqui Dankworth. Their album of the Late String Quartets of Beethoven was released to coincide with their performance of the repertoire at Kings Place and one of their most recent releases, Homage to Bach, comprises the phenomenal premiere recordings of Bach’s three Solo Violin Sonatas arranged by Paul Cassidy. Their latest release is the Schubert Quintet, with the young cellist Laura van der Heijden, with whom they have been collaborating for some years and, in March 2023, Chandos will release ‘Golden Oldies’, a further compendium of encores, arranged by the Quartet in celebration of their 50th anniversary. The Quartet are also regularly recorded for television and radio with their performances broadcast worldwide and have been the recipients of several awards for recordings, including the Diapason D’Or and the CHOC du Monde de la Musique, as well as receiving a Royal Philharmonic Society Award for their outstanding contribution to innovation in programming.

As well as partnering many top classical artists for their performances and recordings, the quartet have made musical history with ground-breaking collaborations with some of the world’s leading artists across many genres and have commissioned and championed many of the world’s most respected composers.

The quartet have taught at many international chamber music courses and have held residencies in several music institutes including, at the start of their career, the first such post at the University of Cambridge and latterly at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, where they are visiting International Fellows in Chamber Music. They were awarded Honorary Doctorates by the University of Kent and an Honorary Fellowship at the University of Teesside, where they were founded. The quartet took their name from the great Russian violinist Adolf Brodsky, the dedicatee of Tchaikovsky’s violin concerto and a passionate chamber musician. Krysia Osostowicz plays a violin made by Francesco Gofriller, 1720; Ian Belton’s violin is by Giovanni Paolo Maggini, c.1615. Paul Cassidy plays on La Delfina viola, c.1720, courtesy of Sra. Delfina Entrecanales and Jacqueline Thomas’s cello is by Thomas Perry of Dublin, 1785.

 

Artist:
Violin: Krysia Osostowicz，Ian Belton
Viola: Paul Cassidy
Cello: Jacqueline Thomas

 

Sir Willard White - Bass-baritone
One of the best-loved and most versatile opera stars of the last 40 years, Sir Willard White's illustrious career has taken him to the most prestigious opera houses and concert halls throughout the world, collaborating with conductors, directors and orchestras of the highest calibre.

Highlights of the 2023/24 season include Bartolo in Mozart Le nozze di Figaro in a new production for the Bayerische Staatsoper and creating the role of Priest in the world premiere of Hèctor Parra Justice for the Grand Théâtre de Genève, alongside il Re in Verdi Aida for the Royal Danish Opera. On the concert platform, White will perform Méphistophélès in Berlioz La Damnation de Faust with the RTVE Symphony Orchestra.

Recent highlights include il Re in Aida for the Royal Danish Opera, Dikoj in Janáček Kát'a Kabanová for Opéra National de Lyon, A Blind Ballad Singer and Recorder of Norwich in Britten Gloriana for English National Opera, Monterone in Verdi Rigoletto for Opera North, Porgy in Gershwin Porgy and Bess and the title role in Bartók Bluebeard’s Castle for Hungarian State Opera, Seneca in Monteverdi L'incoronazione di Poppea for the Wiener Staatsoper, Jupiter in Offenbach Orpheus in the Underworld for the English National Opera, Luther and Crespel in Offenbach Les contes d'Hoffmann at La Monnaie, Trinity Moses in Weill Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny at the Festival d'Aix-en-Provence, Gorjantchikov in Janáček From the House of the Dead at the Opéra national de Paris, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, La Monnaie and Opéra National de Lyon, Thibaut d'Arc in Tchaikovsky The Maid of Orleans at Theater an der Wien, Créon in Cherubini Médée at the Grand Théâtre de Genève, Publio in Mozart La clemenza di Tito for Dutch National Opera, Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden and at the Salzburg Festival, Cadmus in Henze The Bassarids at the Salzburg Festival, Commendatore in Mozart Don Giovanni at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Parson / Badger in Janáček The Cunning Little Vixen with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and Sir Simon Rattle, Schigolch in Berg Lulu for the English National Opera and Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, Doktor in Berg Wozzeck for Dutch National Opera and Arkel in Debussy Pelléas et Mélisande with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra and at the Metropolitan Opera.

Sir Willard White was born in Jamaica, where he commenced his musical training at the Jamaican School of Music and then went on to the Juilliard School in New York. Since his operatic debut with the New York City Opera in 1974, he has sung regularly at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, the Metropolitan Opera, New York, English National Opera, San Francisco Opera, the opera houses of Munich, Amsterdam, Berlin, Brussels, Geneva, Hamburg, Los Angeles, Madrid, Paris, and at the Glyndebourne, Aix-en-Provence and Salzburg festivals. In 1989, White performed the role of Othello in Trevor Nunn’s production for the Royal Shakespeare Company, alongside Sir Ian McKellen as Iago and Imogen Stubbs as Desdemona.

On the concert platform, White sings regularly with the world’s major conductors and orchestras, including the London Symphony, London Philharmonic, BBC Symphony, the Hallé, Royal Philharmonic, Royal Concertgebouw, La Scala, Boston Symphony, New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic and Cleveland orchestras and the Berliner Philharmoniker, and he has appeared as soloist many times at the BBC Proms, including the First and Last Night of the Proms and at the Proms in the Park. Highlights include Walton Belshazzar’s Feast at the Philharmonie de Paris, Tiresias and Messenger in Stravinsky Oedipus Rex with Esa-Pekka Salonen and the Philharmonia Orchestra at the Royal Festival Hall, Méphistophélès in La Damnation de Faust with the Cleveland Orchestra and at the Verbier Festival with Charles Dutoit, Golaud in Pélleas et Mélisande with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the title role in Bluebeard’s Castle with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at the Royal Festival Hall and the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Esa-Pekka Salonen, Marke in Wagner Tristan und Isolde Act II under Gergiev, and a concert performance of Pélleas et Mélisande (Arkel) and Porgy and Bess (Porgy) in concert with the Berliner Philharmoniker and Sir Simon Rattle.

Sir Willard White was awarded the CBE in 1995 and was knighted in the Queen’s Birthday Honours in 2004.