Oslo String Quartet

Oslo String Quartet is widely recognized as one of the most versatile string quartetsof our day. Since it was founded in 1991 it has established a reputation as an ensemblethat unites high artistic standards with a degree of playfulness and an absolute integrity.The quartet’s concerts and recordings have consistently received acclaim, both by thepublic and by critics. A strong attachment to the music of Beethoven has resulted inseveral performances of his complete string quartets, for example in the quartet’s festival“The Beethoven Code” in 2006. Their programmes range from the classic string quartetrepertoire to the works of contemporary composers, but also include music in othergenres, and their unique versions of, for example, Peer Gynt and Tosca break with whatis normally expected of a string quartet.The quartet has played regularly in many important halls and festivals, such as theWigmore Hall, Carnegie Hall, the Dortmund Internationales Streich Quartett Festival,the Risør Chamber Music Festival, the Oslo Quartet Series, the Orlando Festival and theCanary Islands Music Festival. Outside Norway, it is in Germany, Ireland, Sweden, Spainand Denmark that the quartet has given most concerts. The quartet is never happier thanwhen playing in small rooms – rooms of the size for which chamber music was originallywritten – and such “house concerts” are the Oslo String Quartet’s most important arenawhen sharing challenging programmes with its public.The Oslo String Quartet plays on instruments loaned by Dextra Musica and theensemble is supported by Arts Council Norway. The current members of the quartet areGeir Inge Lotsberg and Liv Hilde Klokk (violins), Are Sandbakken (viola) and ØysteinSonstad (cello).

photo: from booklet ‘minor major’ (2L)