Described as the “future stars of British Chamber Music” (Eaton Square Concerts), the Halcyon Quartet is a passionate and dedicated ensemble that formed in 2012 at the Royal Academy of Music, studying under the tutelage of Jon Thorne, Martin Outram and the Doric Quartet. For four years they were recipients of the Academy’s Davey Posnanski Quartet Scholarship, which granted them masterclasses with distinguished chamber music ensembles and performers including Jonhannes Meissl, Andreas Reiner and the Dudok, Apollon Musagete, Chilingirian, Heath, and Fine Arts Quartets.

 

The Halcyons made their debut on BBC Radio 3 in 2015 as part of the BBC Proms Composer’s Portrait of Hugh Wood and, more recently, at Wigmore Hall as part of their “For Crying Out Loud” Series. Over the years, they have won accolades including the 2017 St. Peter’s Prize, Sir Arthur Bliss and Harold Craxton Prizes, and were selected as one of the Royal Academy’s A.S.S.E.T ensembles for advanced string quartet training. There were finalists in the 2019 and 2020 Royal Overseas League Chamber Music Competition and are recipients of the Friends of the Musicians’ Chapel Ensemble-in-Residence. 

 

Performances have taken the Halcyons to numerous venues across the UK and beyond including The Royal Opera House in a 10-show run of TRIO ConcertDance in collaboration with Bruce Levingston, Alessandra Ferri, and Herman Cornejo, Conway Hall, St. John's Smith Square, the Chelsea Arts Club, Thames Concerts Series, Eaton Square Concerts, and various occasions at Holy Sepulchre London as the Ensemble-in-Residence. In 2018 the quartet toured to Bermuda where they performed Schubert's Death and the Maiden in the Bermuda Festival for the Performing Arts in concerts alongside Bermudian mezzo-soprano Kerri Dietz. The Halcyons have also given performances and participated in masterclasses as part of West Cork Chamber Music Festival and West Dean as part of the Chilingirian String Ensemble Course.

 

The Halcyons enjoy sharing their passion for chamber music with others: in 2016 they were Teaching Quartet-in-Residence at the Dartington International Summer School, where they also performed in a sold-out concert alongside Alison Balsom. Other notable teaching engagements include being Quartet-in-Residence for the Broadstone Music Series, tutoring young people in chamber music and musicianship; and during their Bermuda tour the Halcyons mentored the string players studying at the Menuhin Foundation and Bermuda School of Music, performing in chamber ensembles and enhancing musicianship skills. 

 

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