Piatti Quartet Named Resident Quartet at London’s Kings Place

The string quartet will partner with the UK venue for an initial two seasons, beginning in October 2023

The London-based Piatti Quartet will begin an initial two-year term from October 2023 at multi-arts venue, Kings Place in King’s Cross, London, succeeding the Brodsky Quartet, which has held the position at the venue for the last 10 years.

A prizewinner at the 2015 Wigmore Hall String Quartet Competition, the Piatti Quartet comprises violinists Michael Trainor and Emily Holland, violist Miguel Sobrinho, and cellist Jessie Ann Richardson. 

As part of the residency, the ensemble has been programmed into Kings Place’s “Rush Hour Lates” series, where it will perform four one-hour concerts centered around Dvořák’s late works, including his last three string quartets (Nos. 12, 13, and 14) and his Piano Quintet No. 2 with pianist Emmanuel Despax.

“We have tried to make it as varied as possible and to bring the audiences on as much of a journey as we can,” Trainor said of the series.

Accompanying each Dvořák work in the concerts, will be Schubert’s Quartetsatz, Ina Boyle’s Quartet in E minor, Webern’s Langsamer Satz, and Charlotte Harding’s Iorsa, which was commissioned in 2022 by Piatti and Three Choirs Festival. 

The series will also feature the world premiere of a new piece commissioned by Piatti, written by UK composer Anna Appleby. The four concerts will span across October 2023 and March 2024. To attend, click here.

“After keeping this under wraps for so long we are delighted to announce that we are the new Resident Quartet at Kings Place,” the quartet posted on Facebook. “Unbelievably excited, grateful and really looking forward, next season deep diving into Dvořák late quartets, and many other surprises.”

A video of the quartet introducing their part in the series can be viewed below. 

The Piatti Quartet is named for 19th-century virtuoso cellist Alfredo Piatti, who was a professor at the Royal Academy of Music — also the group’s alma mater. Since its founding, the quartet has made numerous studio recordings with the Linn, Somm, Champs Hill, Hyperion, Delphian, Nimbus, and NMC record labels. 

For their albums, the quartet has received Gramophone’s 2023 “Editor’s Choice for the Month,” a five star review from BBC Music Magazine, and a “Recording of the Year” nomination from Limelight and Gramophone in 2022.

Dedicated to new music, the quartet has also presented newly commissioned works by composers Mark-Anthony Turnage, Emily Howard, Charlotte Harding, and Joseph Phibbs, in venues such as the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Flagey Radio Hall Brussels, Wigmore Hall, and Aldeburgh Festival.