Arts Global

Philippe Bernhard violin
Loïc Rio violin
Laurent Marfaing viola
François Kieffer cello

The Modigliani Quartet was formed in 2003 and attracted international attention the following year by winning the Frits Philips String Quartet competition in Eindhoven. The Quartet also took First Prize at the Vittorio Rimbotti competition in Florence in 2005, and won the highly prestigious Young Concert Artists Auditions in New York in 2006.

The Quartet has since become one of the world's most sought after young chamber ensembles, appearing in such major venues and festivals as Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center in New York, Kennedy Center in Washington DC, Théâtre du Châtelet and Auditorium du Louvre in Paris, City of London Festival and Wigmore Hall in London, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Schubertiada in Brescia, Pergola in Florence, Teatro Malibran in Venice, Palazzo Sarracini in Sienna, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival and Rheingau Festival in Germany and Kioi Hall in Tokyo.

Amongst the artists with whom the Quartet has collaborated are Michel Dalberto, Henri Demarquette, Abdel Rahman El Bacha, Anne Gastinel, Gary Hoffman, Eric Le Sage, Jean Marc Luisada, Paul Meyer, Jean-Frédéric Neuburger and Michel Portal.

In September 2008 the Modigliani Quartet received on loan, from the Swiss Global Artistic Foundation, The Evangelists, the world's only matched set of string quartet instruments by a master maker. Produced in 1863 in Paris by Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume, the four instruments are made of wood from the same tree. Whilst each is outstanding in its own right, when heard together their collective sound displays an extraordinary radiant energy. Before their acquisition by the Swiss Global Artistic Foundation, The Evangelists had not been heard in public for over 35 years. The Quartet is now performing and recording with The Evangelists.

The Modigliani Quartet studied at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris. It has worked with the Ysaÿe and Artemis Quartets and with Walter Levin, György Kurtág and Volker Jacobsen.

The Quartet released its first CD on Nascor in 2006, and reviewers were impressed by the group's talent and high promise. A Haydn CD was released in 2008 on Mirare/Harmonia Mundi, confirming the Quartet's stature and maturity and winning the grand Prix du Disque.

Further information may be found at the quartet's personal website, www.modiglianiquartet.com.