In high demand by both audiences and presenters throughout the classical music domain for their uncommonly unified sound and extraordinary musical versatility, the Danish String Quartet returns to the United States in summer 2017 for an eight-concert tour across five cities.  Since their debut in 2002 at the Copenhagen Festival, the group of musical friends continues to manifest their passion for Scandinavian composers by frequently incorporating Nordic repertoire into adventurous contemporary programs, while invariably proving to be intelligent and profound performers of the classical masters.

This summer the Quartet brings exciting and diverse programming, featuring works by Bartók, Beethoven, Brahms, Haydn, Schubert, Shostakovich, and Nordic folk music, with collaborations that include “the delightfully unassuming but bewitching” (The Guardian) Finnish pianist Juho Pohjonen and rising star Swedish cellist Jakob Koranyi.  On August 10, the Quartet closes their broad tour at the Mostly Mozart Festival with two concerts in one evening: a 7:30pm performance of Beethoven string quartets, and a 10pm late-night concert of Scandinavian folk tunes.

Thursday, August 10, 2017
Alice Tully Hall, 7:30pm
BEETHOVEN String Quartet Op. 18 No. 2
BEETHOVEN String Quartet Op. 59 No.1

Stanley Kaplan Penthouse, 10pm
arr. DANISH STRING QUARTET Scandinavian folk tunes

The Danish String Quartet released their first disc on ECM Records in spring 2016, featuring works by Danish composers Per Nørgård (Quartetto Breve -  his first quartet) and Hans Abrahamsen (10 Preludes), and English composer Thomas Adès (Arcadiana), each of whom have recently received significant awards in composition. The recording, which has earned international acclaim, is described by The Guardian as, “an exacting programme requiring grace, grit, and clarity and the Danish players sound terrific - lithe and glassy in the Abrahamsen, richer in the Nørgard, able to capture the picturesque watery shimmer of the Adès but also the slime and murk below the surface. It’s a sophisticated performance.”  The Quartet will release their second ECM recording this fall.

Their talents have secured them numerous prizes and coveted appointments including the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s CMS Two Program, the BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists program, the Carl Neilsen Prize, a 2017 BBC Music Magazine Award nomination, and, in February 2016, the Quartet received the prestigious Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award to assist them in their musical endeavors on an international scale. Last fall, the musicians hosted their tenth annual Danish String Quartet Festival in Copenhagen, a four-day event that brings together colleagues and friends the quartet have met on their travels.  They have become frequent visitors of London’s Wigmore Hall, and recently made their debuts at the Caramoor, Tanglewood, and Edinburgh Festivals to standing ovations.  Their capacity to communicate and sustain listeners with their musical ideas, fresh approach, and seamlessly balanced sound distinguishes them among the top echelon of string quartets before the public today.

“Most of the music in this concert was of the kind that makes its musical points when performed with ultra refinement, pliancy of phrasing and tone, and a sense of reflection. In music of this type, the Danish Quartet has no peer.” – Calgary Herald

“The Danish are remarkable, as ever – capable of intense blend, extreme dynamic variation (in which they seem glued together), perfect intonation even on harmonics, and constant vitality and flow.” -Gramophone

“A concert that was as comprehensively rewarding as any chamber-music performance in recent memory… Do not lose track of this group: Even by today’s high standards, it offers something very special.” -The Boston Globe

DANISH STRING QUARTET
    Rune Tonsgaard Sørensen, violin
    Frederik Øland, violin
    Asbjørn Nørgaard, viola
    Fredrik Schøyen Sjölin, cello

Danish String Quartet website

Complete North American Tour Dates, Summer 2017:

Interlochen Center for the Arts
Friday, July 28, 2017 at 8:00pm
Dendrinos Chapel and Recital Hall
HAYDN Op. 20 No. 2
arr. DSQ Scandinavian folk tunes
BARTÓK Quartet No. 1

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Bravo! Vail
Saturday, July 29, 2017 at 8:30pm
Crazy Mountain Brewery
arr. DSQ Scandinavian folk tunes

Monday, July 31, 2017 at 6pm
Brush Creek Pavilion
BARTÓK Quartet No. 1
arr. DSQ Scandinavian folk tunes

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Ravinia Festival
Martin Theater
Wednesday, August 2, 2017 at 7:30pm
HAYDN Quartet Op. 20, No. 2
BEETHOVEN Quartet Op. 59, No. 1
SHOSTAKOVICH Piano Quintet with Juho Pohjonen, piano

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Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center
Saratoga Performing Arts Little Theater (Saratoga Springs, NY)
Saturday, August 6, 2017 at 3pm
BEETHOVEN Op. 18, No. 2
SCHUBERT Cello Quintet, D. 956 with Jakob Koranyi, cello

Tuesday, August 8, 2017 at 8pm
Saratoga Performing Arts Little Theater (Saratoga Springs, NY)
SIBELIUS Suite in A Major for Violin, Viola and Cello (Rune Tonsgaard Sørensen, violin; Asbjørn Nørgaard, viola; Jakob Koranyi, cello)
BARTÓK Quartet No. 1
BRAHMS Piano Quintet, Op. 34 with Juho Pohjonen, piano

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Mostly Mozart Festival
Alice Tully Hall
Thursday, August 10, 2017 at 7:30pm
BEETHOVEN String Quartet Op.18 No.2
BEETHOVEN String Quartet Op.59 No.1

Stanley Kaplan Penthouse
Thursday, August 10, 2017 at 10pm
arr. DSQ Scandinavian folk tune