Engegård Quartet
Engegård Quartet
Arvid Engegård (viool)
Laura Custodio Sabas (viool)
Juliet Jopling (altviool)
Jan Clemens Carlsen (cello)
Formed under the midnight sun in Lofoten in 2005, the Engegård Quartet has rapidly become one of Norway’s most sought after ensembles. Their bold, fresh interpretations of the classical repertoire combined with a deep attachment to their Scandinavian roots has attracted international acclaim, and inspired some innovative partnerships and programming. The quartet’s debut CD was praised as ‘breathtaking’ in The Strad, while their second release won Pizzicato magazine’s ‘Supersonic Award’. Their CD of works by Grieg, Sibelius, and Olav Anton Thommessen was praised by Tully Potter in Music Web International as ‘what Grieg lovers have been waiting for’.
Deeply committed to today’s composers and to keeping the string quartet repertoire alive and developing, the Engegård Quartet has commissioned several works throughout their career. They have focused first and foremost on Norwegian composers including Maja Solveig Kjelstrup Ratkje, Olav Anton Thommessen, Therese Birkelund Ulvo and Cecilie Ore, but also on the Finnish pianist and composer Olli Mustonen. The Engegård Quartet’s acclaimed collaborations with the jazz violinist Ola Kvernberg and hardanger fiddler Nils Økland and have lead to commissions including the Telemark Quintet from Nils Anders Mortensen, and Hypnagogia and Flukt from Ola Kvernberg. Several of these commissions have been recorded by the Engegård Quartet.
On the classical front, the Engegård Quartet has had the honour to work with (among others) Sir András Schiff, Leif Ove Andsnes, Christian Ihle Hadland, Paul Lewis, Dènes Várion, Nabuko Imai, Kim Kashkashian and Emma Johnson MBE.