Commissioning for string quartet - we love new music!

String Quartet Biennale presents new works for string quartet, quintet, octet, or larger ensembles, such as string quartet with choir. On this page, you’ll find an overview of all our commissions. This is not a complete list of all premieres programmed during the festival, but includes works (c0-)commissioned by SQBA.

Monica ROSENZWEIG Armour composition fund

New compositions enrich and expand the string quartet canon we all love and cherish. Over the course of four festival editions, the String Quartet Biennale has (co-)commissioned 15 new works. We celebrate our 5th edition in 2026 with 14 new works for string quartet and string quartet plus percussion, tanbur and voice.

“Newly written music for string quartet gives joy and contributes significantly to our social and cultural wellbeing. Knowing that I am contributing to something so positive, that will long outlast me, is an important part of my personal legacy.” – Monica Rosenzweig Armour

Monica Rosenzweig Armour has initiated a new composition fund: the MRA Composition Fund welcomes donations from anyone who wishes to contribute to the creation of new music.

Do you love new music and would you like to contribute?
Please contact our managing director Kiki Raposo de Haas via k.raposo@sqba.nl or +31 (0)6 26490489.

New works premiered at the String Quartet Biennale since 2018 by the following composers:
Samuel Adams, Eleanor Alberga, Lucio Amanti, Lera Auerbach, Brett Dean, Aftab Darvishi, Jonathan Dove, Bushra El-Turk, Sebastian Fagerlund, Willem Friede, Osvaldo Golijov, David Lang, Vinthya Perinpanathan, Alexander Raskatov, Joey Roukens, José Maria Sánchez-Verdú, Bart Visman, Kevin Volans, Mathilde Wantenaar, Jörg Widmann, and the six composers of Een flat met duizend ramen: Primo Ish-Hurwitz, Richard Ayres, Frieda Gustavs, Hanna Kulenty, Jan-Peter de Graaff, and Boris Bezemer.