A masterclass with Aradia Quartet and Signum Quartet.

Aradia Quartet
Helen Rutledge, Kate O’Shea [violins]
Eve Quigley [viola]
Aoibhín Keogh Daly [cello]

The Aradia Quartet was founded in 2021 with members from three Irish counties.

Helen Rutledge studies violin with Gregory Ellis at MTU Cork School of Music. Among her many awards are the St. Cecilia Cup at Feis Ceoil, the Capuchin Bursary at Feis Maitiú and Runner-Up in the CSM Senior Concerto Competition. Helen is a passionate chamber musician and took part in masterclasses at the West Cork Chamber Music Festival with the Danu Quartet.

Kate studies violin with Katherine Hunka at MTU CSM. As a multiple prize-winner at Feis Maitiú and Cork School of Music competitions, Kate has performed with the Quay Quartet, the National Youth Orchestra of Ireland and the Royal Concertgebouworkest Young, and leads the CSM Symphony Orchestra.

Eve Quigley studies viola with Matthew Jones at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. She has taken part in a number of masterclasses and courses including Camerata Ireland Academy and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Young. She is an an avid chamber musician, with previous performances at the West Cork Chamber Music Festival in 2021.

Aoibhín Keogh Daly is a past pupil of Christopher Marwood and is currently studying with Jan Ype Nota in The Royal Conservatory of The Hague. She has been a member of the Royal Concertgebouworkest Young and is currently the recipient of the Trench Bursary. Aoibhín has also participated in masterclasses with Pieter Wispelwey, Raphael Wallfisch and members of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra.

Signum Quartet
Florian Donderer [violin]
Annette Walther [violin]
Xandi van Dijk [viola]
Thomas Schmitz [cello]

Performances of unsparing expressivity, intimacy and vitality are hallmarks of the Signum Quartet, pairing music making of the subtlest order with playing of the highest intensity. The dramatic composition of their programmes is innovative and distinct, and is realised with uncompromising perfection in interpretations of effortless transparency. (“enormously intelligent and knowledgeable programming”—Rondo Magazin). The quartet has been a welcome guest at the Wigmore Hall London, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Philharmonie de Paris, Konzerthaus Vienna, Philharmonie Cologne, the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg and at the BBC Proms, with partners such as Nils Mönkemeyer, Dominique Horwitz, Jörg Widmann, Daniel Ottensamer, Nicolas Altstaedt and Elisabeth Leonskaja. In 2021 the ensemble will give its debut at Carnegie Hall in New York. The Signum Quartet’s discography is a testament to their stylistic range: Next to the greats of the quartet literature, they have recorded works by Wolfgang Rihm, Thomas Adès, Jörg Widmann and Kevin Volans.