Arditti Quartet

Fall 2020 and Spring 2021

Arditti Quartet.

Founded in 1974, the Arditti Quartet is arguably the most acclaimed string quartet in new music. The group has received a myriad of accolades.

For their discography of over 200 albums, they have received multiple Gramophone (“Grammy”) Awards and Deutsche Schallplattenpreisen, and a Coup de Coeur Prize and Grand Prix from the Academie Charles Cros in 2004. The group has played at most major new music festivals worldwide, and is the only ensemble to receive the Ernst von Siemens Prize for lifetime achievement. Beyond recognition for its concerts and recordings, the quartet has played a crucial role in keeping the string quartet alive as a significant medium for music making by working in close collaboration with composers to develop new repertoire.

“Music played and heard at the moment creates a unique connection that is both deep and fragile… [and] this relationship between the audience and us is not negotiable. What we need now are other spaces, built and in our heads, in order to be able to present music in a live, living way. Smaller, “private” moments, whose preciousness gives us the courage to continue on the path of rapprochement together. ”
Irvine Arditti

Due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, plans for the quartet's residency had to be re-imagined. For the first months of the
pandemic, the musicians found themselves locked down in different parts of Europe. When travel restrictions within Europe loosened, they were able to come together in Dresden, Germany to hold the first planned residency events with the help of technology. It was hoped that the second portion of their residency could be held in person in Buffalo in June 2021. However, this ultimately proved impossible due to ongoing travel restrictions, so, once again, the musicians came together and used technology to connect to a wider audience. In the end, while fewer public performances were possible than initially planned, those that took place reached a global audience. Also, high quality recordings of the concerts will remain available to the public for free through the Center for 21st Century Music's website.

A very important part of the activities was a series of workshops wherein new works were written for the quartet to workshop, as well as coaching student instrumentalists. Students were recruited and selected from UB, primarily, but opportunities were available for other regional participation following an open call for work and participants broadcast within the region. Workshops were held via video conference. This was an invaluable opportunity for young composers to hear their work interpreted by the finest performers of
contemporary music, to give and receive feedback, and to refine their work. The quartet spent approximately an hour with each composer, at the end of which, a high-quality audio recording of the entire piece was able to be produced for use by the student composer. The students often "sat in" on the workshops of their colleagues as well.