The Smith Quartet

About

Official Site: http://www.smithquartet.com/

Since its formation in 1988, the Smith Quartet has been dedicated to the development and performance of new music. They have built a repertoire by some of the world’s most exciting composers and have established an international reputation for their dynamic style and original approach to contemporary music. Kevin Volans, Michael Nyman, Howard Skempton, Graham Fitkin, Django Bates, Stephen Montague, Karl Jenkins, Sally Beamish, Michael Daugherty, and Michael Finnissy are amongst many whom have written for them. To date they have premiered over 100 new works.

Their busy touring schedule has taken them as far a field as North and South America, Scandinavia and the Far East. They have appeared regularly at Europe’s leading festivals including La Biennale di Venezia, The Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, The City of London Festival, The Vale of Glamorgan festival, the Cheltenham Festival (where they gave the UK premiere of Steve Reich’s Triple Quartet), and many more.

The quartet are regular broadcasters with the BBC and have recorded works by some of the most exciting composers writing today, most notably: ‘Different Trains’( their most recent album with Signum Classics), Good Medicine (Glissando), Django Bates Good Evening , here is the news (Decca) and You live and learn…..apparently, Graham Fitkin’s Slow (Decca) , Steve Martland’s Patrol (BMG) and the best selling Karl Jenkins album Diamond Music (Sony).

It has been the aim of the quartet to bring contemporary music to as wide an audience as possible. They have expanded the potential of the “string quartet” to it’s fullest, not only by using amplification and live electronics in many of their concerts, but also in their work with dance companies such as Shobana Jeyasingh, Siobhan Davies and Ultima Vez and artists of other musical genre. Saxophonists John Harle and Gerard McChrystal, guitarists David Tanenbaum and Tim Brady, jazz musicians Andy Sheppard and John Taylor have all worked with the group. Of particular note has been the quartet’s relationship with the jazz artist Django Bates, which has produced the effervescent quartet, Pond Life (1993), a film for Britain’s Channel 4 TV and the critically acclaimed album you live and learn…apparently with Bates’ own group Human Chain. The quartet has also featured in the Barbican’s American Pioneers series alongside Britpop superheroes Pulp in a sell out performance of Terry Riley’s In C, with the composer at the piano. In January 2002, they gave a performance of “John’s Book of Alleged dances” at the BBC’s John Adams weekend at the Barbican, broadcast live for BBC Radio 3. This concert included a rare (conductorless) performance of “Shaker Loops” in its septet version.

The quartet’s long standing partnership with sound designers SoundIntermedia has been vital in its work with amplification and live electronics. It has allowed them to take performances to unconventional spaces and venues including The Music Summit Metropolis Cologne where they played Different Trains suspended above the tracks of Cologne’s Haupt Bahn Hoff.

The Smith’s innovative approach and dedication to new music was recognised in 1994 when they were finalists in the prestigious Prudential Award for the Arts.

Wrapping up 2005

The Smiths have also been closely associated with Steve Reich’s music over the years so appropriately they have brought out their first CD with Signum Classics entitled ‘Different Trains’ featuring not only Reich’s haunting work Different Trains but also his Triple Quartet (written for 3 quartets) and Duet (for two solo violins and viola and cello accompaniment). Since its launch in early Autumn, 2005, the CD has received rave reviews from major newspapers, magazines and radio stations alike.

The Emmy Award winning BBC film “Holocaust-A Musical Memorial Film from Auschwitz” in which the quartet is featured playing Different Trains has been shown, since it first aired on BBC 2 last January, 2005, in over 20 countries all over the world. This very moving film marks the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the concentration camp.

The quartet finished 2005 with a sold out concert at the Huddersfield Contemporary Music festival where they performed the UK premiere of Anna Meredith’s Songs of the M8. Their workshop in the morning with children from the local music school was hugely successful and is part of the Smiths growing educational programme. It is also worth noting that in the previous year at the festival, the quartet premiered Howard Skempton’s Tendrils ( broadcast on BBC radio 3’s Hear and Now), This work went on to win two major awards: The British Composers Awards 2005 for best chamber work for 2005 and the prize for ‘best chamber-scale composition’ at the annual Royal Philharmonic Society awards in May 2005.

Coming up in 2006

In Paris, on the 1st of April, the quartet is looking forward to the first concert of their ‘Circuits’ tour organized by Portuguese composer Miguel Azguime. The project is a series of concerts promoting the music of Portuguese composers. Visiting major cities around the world, composers from each host nation will be invited to contribute to the concert programme In Madrid, later in the season, the quartet will premiere two works for quartet and live electronics written by Michael Alcorn and Miguel Azguime.

Future projects include a collaborative venture with saxophonist Gerard McChrystal on a touring and recording project entitled Anam Cara-Gaelic for Soul-friend. This all Celtic programme will be brought to venues around the UK and Ireland and will feature works by Ian Wilson, Michael Mcglynn, Bill Cowie and John Metcalf. New works by Greg Caffrey and Ciaran Farrell have also been commissioned especially for the project. The quartet are also looking forward to a collaboration with pianist John Tilbury when they will perform and record all the chamber works for piano and strings by Morton Feldman for the 2006/7 season.

Ghost Stories is the title of their new album due for release in Autumn, 2006. This will be the quartet’s second collaboration with Signum Classics and will feature works by Gavin Bryars, Stephe Montague, Tim Souster and a new commission by Anna Meredith.

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