The 4th edition was a huge success!

The fourth edition has exceeded all our expectations and showed that the string quartet is alive and well. The young generation embraces this powerful and beloved genre and this was amply demonstrated during this String Quartet Biennale. The presence of these musicians on stage has touched many hearts, including those of many young listeners. In addition, we were proud to experience the well-known ensembles in the most beautiful repertoire, including Bartók's six masterpieces. In our experience, there is a renaissance of the string quartet, and we have seen that confirmed during this edition.

The aftermovie

Save the date!

String Quartet
Biennale 2026

24.1 - 31.1.2026

 

There’s something magical about string quartet. For over 250 years, the most beautiful and thrilling music has been written for this specific combination of two violins, viola and cello.

Every two years the String Quartet Biennale brings together string quartets, composers and artists from around the globe. Their rich and diverse backgrounds help mould this dynamic and innovative festival consisting of eight days in the Muziekgebouw Amsterdam packed with over sixty concerts, talks, masterclasses and a lively fringe programme featuring 30 string quartets, soloists, composers and speakers.

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What's New?

Discover the Biennale!

Uncategorized

Featured: Early Haydn

Every morning at 9:30 a.m. you can listen to one of the six amazing opus 20 quartets by Joseph Haydn at the Muziekgebouw. The morning ritual lasts up to 45 minutes. During that time, you'll listen to a Haydn string quartet and a piece by a contemporary composer, wildly exciting.

Uncategorized

For the newcomer

Don't know the String Quartet Biennale yet? If so, an hour of music by the Marmen Quartet is an absolute must. These players are researchers on their instruments and tell a true musical story.

Uncategorized

Featured: Danish String Quartet

Four friends with great talent and an insatiable hunger for music: the players of the Danish String Quartet. Their sublime ensemble playing is gaining intensity up to this day. We are immensely proud that the Danish will perform the opening concert on January 27!

In the media retrospect

Kronos' 50 for the Future(2023) in the media

Every article about Kronos' 50 for the Future Weekend in one place.

Video

Kronos' 50FTF Video Series

In celebration of Kronos’ 50 for the Future Weekend, the String Quartet Biennale Amsterdam has produced a mini-series dedicated to the string quartet and Kronos’ revolutionary 50 for the Future project.

Video

MUSA Presentation Event

In September, we were guests at the festive conclusion of the MUSA project: a European talent development programme for young string quartets aimed at developing business knowledge and skills that are essential for their professional careers but are often lacking in their general curriculum. It is a programme that we at the String Quartet Biennale Amsterdam fully support!

50FTF

Kronos' 50 for the Future

In 2015, the Kronos Performing Arts Association launched 50 for the Future: The Kronos Learning Repertoire, an education and legacy project that has commissioned—and distributed for free—the first learning library of contemporary repertoire for string quartet. Designed expressly for the training of students and emerging professionals, fifty new works have been commissioned, and scores and parts, as well as supplemental learning materials that include recordings, videos, performance notes, and composer interviews, are available on the projects' website. Lead partner Carnegie Hall and an adventurous group of partners, including String Quartet Biennale Amsterdam, have joined forces with KPAA to support this exciting program. In collaboration with the Muziekgebouw and the Ragazze Quartet and Kronos Performing Arts Association, the String Quartet Biennale Amsterdam proudly presents Kronos' 50 for the Future Weekend on May 6 & 7 2023. An entire weekend dedicated to the embodiment of Kronos' 50 for the Future in Muziekgebouw aan ’t IJ and BIMHUIS. Ten extraordinary quartets will perform all fifty new pieces in one weekend, a unique experience only available in Amsterdam.

Learning

Merita

The SQBA Residency is part of a partnership called MERITA, supported by the European Union and initiated by Le Dimore del Quartetto. MERITA is an online and offline platform that increases the visibility and circulation of emerging European string quartets while promoting European cultural heritage.

Looking back

Looking back SQBA 2022

In 2022, the largest string quartet festival in the world took place in its smallest form. With live radio broadcasts, a live stream from New York and a last minute live concert, the third edition of the String Quartet Biennale Amsterdam - The Pandemic Edition - will have its place in history as the most memorable. With warm feelings we look back at all the things that did happen.

practical information

Alternative programme

The largest string quartet festival in the world w in its smallest form - on Sunday 30 January and Sunday 6 February we will bring (live) radio broadcasts in collaboration with Dutch NPO Radio 4 / NTR.

2022

2022 Festival Cancelled

With pain in our hearts, we have decided to cancel the String Quartet Biennale Amsterdam 2022.

practical information

How to order tickets

Ordering tickets as a non-Dutch speaker? Here's everything you need to know.

practical information

Day and Night at the Festival

For those who truly don't want to miss anything we offer rooms with discount at the Mövenpick Hotel, right next to the Muziekgebouw.

practical information

Discover the 2022 Line-up!

Prepare yourself for the start of the ticket sales on September 16th: discover the third edition's festival line-up.

practical information

Registration for pre-sale has closed

From 17 May until 7 June, we offered the possibility to register for the pre-sale in September.

Young Talent

SQBA Residency 2021 / 2022

The new SQBA Residency: a kaleidoscopic development programme for young professional string quartets.

retrospect Video

Quartets in Quarantine

Conversations between string quartet musicians during the first lockdown.

Podcast retrospect

Op zoek naar het ongekende

Re-discover the podcast series we made leading up to the second festival edition.

retrospect Video

Aftermovie 2020

Revisit the second String Quartet Biennale one more time.

In the media retrospect

The second edition (2020) in the media

Every article about the second Biennale in one place.

In the media retrospect

The first edition (2018) in the media

Every article about the first Biennale in one place.

 

The Amsterdam String Quartet Biennale is a wonderfully inspiring community of artists, audience, and music lovers in an incredible setting. It is an honor and joy to be returning in 2024 to join a group of truly outstanding string quartets in a one-of-a kind festival.

The Calder Quartet

The Muziekgebouw is literally buzzing with enthusiasm and passion. Each time I come to the Amsterdam Biennale, my love and pride for the String Quartet finds itself strengthened, grown and renewed. The Biennale maintains a perfect balance of celebrating the string quartet with respect and passion, showcasing its endless repertoire, while simultaneously pursuing innovative and exciting concert programming. It is a little bit of paradise for any quartet enthusiast.

Hélène Clément,
Doric String Quartet

The String Quartet Biennale Amsterdam is like a great astronomical event on the string quartet firmament: for one week, a multitude of artistic forces - along with an inspired mass of spectators - align and resonate together. The diversity of artists and events eclipses everything else on the quartet calendar, and celebrates what the string quartet might ultimately strive to be - a microcosm of our society and a mirror to every aspect of the human experience. We can’t wait to return in 2024!

Johannes Marmen,
Marmen Quartet

The String Quartet Biennale is a string quartet-universe without limits: It's an inviting space to discover every hidden corner that the string quartet has to offer and a place where one can encounter the widest scope of international string quartets. The Biennale is a warm home for all string quartets worldwide, where we can finally meet our fellow ensembles, listen to each other, learn from each other and inspire one another.

Rosa Arnold,
Ragazze Quartet

The String Quartet Biennale is a forum for dreams to become reality, and for the wildest and usually unrealisable ideas to take shape and wing. For us, as quartets, it is a unique meeting place for quartets amongst themselves - something which rarely happens in the wild.

Xandi Van Dijk,
Signum Quartett

Eight days of floating in the past, present and future of the string quartet exudes a hypnotic power.

Joost Galema,
NRC, 2 February 2020

The greatest thing in life is when Utopia becomes reality. For me, that is exactly what happens at the String Quartet Biennale Amsterdam. For a full week, the Muziekgebouw and the area around it is like a village, completely occupied by the string quartet.

Marc Danel,
Quatuor Danel

The richness of the String Quartet Biennale is maddening.

Erik Voermans,
het Parool, 27 January 2020