Britain’s longest-established string quartet, for twenty-five years the Sacconi Quartet have been captivating audiences with their unanimous and compelling ensemble, consistently communicating with a fresh and imaginative approach. Formed in 2001, the four founder members share an unwavering passion for the string quartet repertoire, infectiously reaching out to audiences with their energy and enthusiasm. The Sacconis enjoy a busy international career, performing regularly across the world, at Europe’s major venues, in recordings and on radio broadcasts. The Sacconi is Quartet in Association at the Royal College of Music and Quartet in Residence for the town of Folkestone.

The Sacconi’s prolific recording career covers a broad swathe of repertoire from Haydn to present day. Their albums of works by Jonathan Dove, Graham Fitkin, Roxanna Panufnik and John McCabe have drawn critical acclaim, as have their appearances on albums of music by Ravel (the complete songs), Alec Roth and Brian Elias. Their premiere recording of Vaughan Williams’s Five Mystical Songs in its arrangement by the composer for baritone, piano and string quintet, will be released shortly on Albion Records. They celebrated their twenty-first anniversary with another Top Ten release of Beethoven’s opus 131 alongside Schubert’s Death and the Maiden, and their recording of Taneyev and Schumann’s piano quintets with Peter Donohoe is released on Signum.

Champions of new music, the Sacconis have given over thirty world premieres. They gave the first UK premiere in twenty years of Terry Riley’s Sun Rings – his seminal work for string quartet, chorus, samples and pre-recorded track – becoming the first quartet to perform it since Kronos Quartet. For their twenty-fifth anniversary, the Quartet commissioned Freya Waley-Cohen’s Hymns & Songs for Friendship, which they premiered at their Wigmore Hall birthday concert. Their film of Dove’s first quartet Out of Time is now available to all on YouTube, and they continue to give fully staged performances of Beethoven’s late quartets, entirely from memory, in collaboration with theatre director Tom Morris.

As the result of a generous grant, the Sacconi Quartet are Quartet in Residence for the town of Folkestone and its surrounding areas. This is enabling creative collaborations with local artists and projects, and includes an embedded outreach programme. Performances of Beethoven on the Beach and Glass on the Warren seafront have attracted large audiences, many of them experiencing the energy of chamber music for the very first time. Their Sacconi Chamber Music Festival in Folkestone is firmly established among the UK’s major chamber music festivals and attracts audiences from far and near for its vibrant atmosphere and dynamic programming.

The name Sacconi Quartet comes from the outstanding twentieth-century Italian luthier and restorer Simone Sacconi, whose book The Secrets of Stradivari is considered an indispensable reference for violin makers. Ben Hancox plays a 1932 Sacconi violin and Robin Ashwell a 1934 Sacconi viola, both made in New York. Hannah Dawson plays a 1927 Sacconi violin made in Rome, and Cara Berridge plays a Nicolaus Gagliano cello from 1781. Their gratitude extends to the Royal Society of Musicians and Ellen Solomon for generously providing them with these exceptional instruments.