Navarra String Quartet is represented by Rayfield Allied Worldwide.

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Navarra String Quartet

Chamber Ensemble

  • ...They have a warmly-rounded and very expressive sound, perfectly suited to Haydn: on this showing, they are already in the first rank of his music’s exponents...
    The Independent
  • the Navarra Quartet who deliver compelling performances.
    BBC Music Magazine

  • Since its formation in 2002, the Navarra Quartet has built an international reputation as one of the most dynamic and poetic string quartets of today. Selected for representation by the Young Classical Artists Trust (YCAT) from 2006 to 2010, they have been awarded the MIDEM Classique Young Artist Award, a Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship, a Musica Viva tour, Second Prize at the Melbourne International Competition and First Prize in the Florence International Competition.

    The Navarra Quartet has appeared at major venues throughout the world including the Wigmore Hall, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Luxembourg Philharmonie, Berlin Konzerthaus, and international festivals such as Bath, Grachten, Sandviken, Schwetzinger, Rheingau, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Huntingdon (Australia),  Aix-en-Provence, Bellerive and the BBC Proms. Further afield they have given concerts in Russia, the USA and the Middle East and have been broadcast on BBC Radio 3, RAI 3 (Italy), Radio 4 (Holland), SWR (Germany), Radio Luxembourg and ABC Classic FM (Australia). The Quartet has collaborated with artists such as Li-Wei, Guy Johnston, Mark Padmore, Allan Clayton, Francesco Piemontesi, John O’Conor, Jack Liebeck, Simone Young and the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain.

    Highly-acclaimed recordings include Haydn’s The Seven Last Words for Altara Records and a disc of Pēteris Vasks’ first three String Quartets for Challenge Records, which they recorded whilst working closely with the composer himself. The recording was described by critics as “stunning”, “sensational” and “compelling”, and was nominated for the prestigious German Schallplattenkritik Award. Earlier in 2013, the Navarra Quartet recorded a disc for NMC Records featuring the music of Joseph Phibbs, due for release in the coming months.

    Formed at the Royal Northern College of Music, they commenced their studies under the guidance of Alasdair Tait and the late Dr. Christopher Rowland. Their development continued with studies in Cologne with the Alban Berg Quartet, Pro-Quartet in Paris, the International Musicians Seminar at Prussia Cove and from residencies at the Britten-Pears School in Aldeburgh and at the Verbier Festival in Switzerland. 

    The Navarra Quartet is the recipient of the ChamberStudio Mentorship 2013, generously supported by the Musicians Benevolent Fund. Combined with their constant desire for evolution, the mentorship has allowed them to continue working with renowned musicians such as Eberhard Feltz, David Waterman and Ferenc Rados.

    The Quartet plays on a variety of fine instruments which include a Hieronymus II Amati and Fendt violins, an unknown, old English viola and a Ruggieri cello.

    Highlights this season and beyond include appearances at the Royal Festival Hall, Wigmore Hall, the Sage Gateshead, Kings Place and The Hague in Amsterdam; at Peasmarsh and Hatfield House Festivals, at the Lockenhaus Kammermusikfest in Austria; and a Britten cycle at the Aix-en-Provence Festival.

    The Navarra Quartet are excited to launch their own chamber music festival in 2014 at the beautifully renovated Van Houten Church, in the picturesque town of Weesp, close to Amsterdam.

    Navarra String Quartet is represented Worldwide by Catherine Strange at Rayfield Allied.
    This biography is for information only and should not be reproduced.

    • Schoenberg Concerto, National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain / Simone Young
      Royal Festival Hall, 13 April 2013

      the excellent Navarra String Quartet
      The Guardian

    • Auditorium du Louvre - Mozart, Levinas and Debussy.
      5 October 2012

      the exquisite sonority of the instruments was remarkable[...] It was striking that this was a quartet of young players playing a young quartet [Mozart K.159], as their sound was one of very mature instrumental mastery. The players showed with precision and firmness the joyful mixture of intimacy and openness. The musicians played seamlessly and meticulously, never hesitating before the composer’s [Debussy] extremely original chromaticism [...] The timbre and the colours were stunning
      ClassiqueNews.com

    • Haydn, Britten and Beethoven, Lammermuir Festival
      24 September 2011

      The Navarra Quartet resonated richly, without in any way compromising clarity...Magnus Johnston gave a very good account of himself...the ensemble of the quartet was impressive.
      BachTrack.com

    • Presteigne Festival at St Andrew’s Church
      August 2011

      The Navarra Quartet […] refreshed us with their Friday evening recital: Beethoven, Haydn, and David Matthews’s bird-garlanded Quartet No 10 […] sumptuous tone”
      Erik Levi, BBC Music Magazine

    • Vasks String Quartets Nos 1-3
      Challenge Classics CC 72365

      All three works, recorded in the presence of the composer, are projected with almost graphic immediacy by the Navarra Quartet who deliver compelling performances captured here in extremely vivid sound. Overall, then, this disc comes hotly recommended.
      Erik Levi, BBC Music Magazine
      They play this repertoire with the utmost conviction, and judging by the photo in the book, to the satisfaction of the composer.
      Siebe Riedstra, Luister, November 2010
      The playing is nothing short of sensational, the precision and enormous dynamics absolutely thrilling, as is the clarity of recording.
      Yorkshirepost.co.uk, October 2010
      We can be very brief about the Navarra Quartet: Amazing!
      PS Mania Klassiek, October 2010
      The stunning performance compensates a lot. The Navarra has specialized in a finely polished expression. Flawless intonations bring a sonority that causes a sensation in itself.
      Thiemo Wind, De Telegraaf, October 2010
      …this young UK-based ensemble understands his music down to the microsecond, and plays at a level that can be characterized as exceptional…
      Volkskrant, September 2010

    • Mozart Musical Journey, Lammermuir Festival
      September 2010

      ...the Navarra Quartet, who had accepted the challenge of playing three concerts in one day. Without faltering, they took us by the hand, and lead us through six magical works by Mozart, Haydn and Schubert.', 'The audience sighed with wonder after the Navarra’s First movement of the Haydn G minor Op20/3 [...], in a way that I have never quite heard before.', 'Having felt a little daunted by the prospect of an entire day of quartet concerts, in fact I found myself luxuriating in so much music, so well played. It was a wonderful indulgence to hear it all in one go, and from the hands of the Navarra. When they really go for it, their combined sound has a deeply satisfying sense of plenty of meat-on-the bone. They can conjure up a demented bluebottle in the last movement of Haydn’s D major, before their light touch sends it out, with absolutely no fuss, through the open window of the final bars. And what a delight it is to hear Magnus Johnston, returning at last to full-time quartet playing. Whether it is turning a first violin flourish with elegance and ease, flying helter-skelter over the last movement of Mozart’s Dissonance Quartet, creating an exquisite fairy-like Trio in Mozart’s D minor, or a plaintive folk flautando in the E flat major’s Trio, to listen to him is to know you are where you should be.
      Herald Newspaper, September 2010

    • Chamber Prom 2: Piemontesi/Navarra Quartet, Cadogan Hall
      July 2010

      ...they launched into Schumann’s Piano Quintet in E flat major with such assurance that they might have been collaborating for years. This majestic work was written by Schumann as a miniature piano concerto which his wife Clara could perform without orchestra in private houses: Piemontesi and the Navarras gave it the requisite declamatory spaciousness from the start. As with Schumann’s piano concerto proper, this work involves constant dialogue between soloist and ensemble: with Piemontesi leading the way, they made a thrilling journey through an emotional landscape by turns sweet, spooky, throbbingly combustible, and liberatingly joyous. And if this was a flawless performance, so was the Navarra Quartet’s treatment of one of Haydn’s early masterpieces, the G minor Quartet Opus 20. They have a warmly-rounded and very expressive sound, perfectly suited to Haydn: on this showing, they are already in the first rank of his music’s exponents.
      Michael Church, The Independent

  • Photos

    • Photographer credit: Sussie Ahlburg
      Photographer credit: Sussie Ahlburg
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    • Photographer credit: Sussie Ahlburg
      Photographer credit: Sussie Ahlburg
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    • Photographer credit: Sussie Ahlburg
      Photographer credit: Sussie Ahlburg
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    • Photographer credit: Sussie Ahlburg
      Photographer credit: Sussie Ahlburg
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    • Photographer credit: Sussie Ahlburg
      Photographer credit: Sussie Ahlburg
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    • Photographer credit: Sussie Ahlburg
      Photographer credit: Sussie Ahlburg
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    • Photographer credit: Sussie Ahlburg
      Photographer credit: Sussie Ahlburg
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