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 25 string quartets and many soloists, composers and speakers.

Save-the-date for the 5th edition: 24th – 31st of January 2026. Ticket sales will start in April 2025.

We love working with commissioning partners, creating new innovative formats and expanding audiences, particularly through projects with our partners Leerorkest, Koninklijke Visio and MERITA. String Quartet Biennale Amsterdam is a registered nonprofit. Alongside the support we receive from Gemeente Amsterdam (AFK) and Dutch Performing Arts Foundation (FPK) and various charitable trusts and foundations, we also receive income from ticket sales and co-commissioning partners and from sponsorship. We are especially grateful for the generous support we receive from our Founders and individual donors. 

Care to help us realise the festival? Read about the many ways in which you can contribute to the String Quartet Biennale:

Mission & Vision

MISSION
We hold the view that the string quartet exists for everybody to enjoy, regardless of identity or background. The String Quartet Biennale Amsterdam has the goal of inspiring as large and diverse a public as possible to experience and become acquainted with the string quartet in all its facets.

VISION
Held every two years, our large-scale international festival gives musicians, devotees and curious newcomers the opportunity to experience the string quartet as a contemporary and vital art form. We do not limit our vision to the genre’s rich past, but give a prominent place to current developments, crossovers and innovation. In this way we give space to the rich breadth of the string quartet repertoire, featuring a diverse, world-class line-up and developing non-traditional forms of presentation. In this context crucial aspects include scouting, presenting and developing young talent both at home and abroad, commissioning new compositions and creating opportunities for collaborations with makers from other disciplines. In all that we do, we strive to achieve the greatest possible diversity.

PUBLIC RELATIONS & PRESS
Marjolein van Ruiten
press@sqba.nl

Board

SUPERVISORY BOARD
Michael Kembel (chair)
Levent Aykul (treasurer)
Diana van Everdingen (secretary)
Willie Beumer
Piet Boogert
Marijke Evers
Maud van Turnhout

STRING QUARTET BIENNALE FOUNDATION BOARD
Riemke thoe Schwartzenberg-Manger Cats (chair)
Jeroen Davidson (treasurer)
Willem van Eeghen
Anne Christin Erbe
Susan Lambrechtsen

The board receives no compensation.

Artistic Ambassadors and Advisors

Charlotte Bartissol (director ProQuartet Paris)
Kirsten Dawes (head of artistic planning and production Pierre Boulezsaal Berlin)
Liza Ferschtman (violinist)
Francis Humphrys (director West Cork Chamber Music Festival)
Barry Shiffman (director Banff International String Quartet Competition)
Marco de Souza (founder and director Leerorkest Netherlands)
Alasdair Tait (director YCAT)
Mirjam Wijzenbeek (programmer chamber music Concertgebouw Amsterdam)
Sam Wigglesworth (performance music director Faber Music)

Locations