* En anglais uniquement
Romania's
Arcadia Quartet came on the scene with a host of awards in the late 2000s decade and the early 2010s. Among Eastern Europe's rising chamber ensembles in the early 21st century, the group specializes in music of the region but performs a wide range of music.
The
Arcadia Quartet was formed in 2006 when violinists Traian Boala and Rasvan Dumitru, violist
Ana Török, and cellist Zsolt Törok were all students at the Gheorghe Dima Music Academy in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Setting sights on a professional career, the group went on for further studies at the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst in Vienna and were also alumni members of the European Chamber Music Academy. Soon after beginning to perform in earnest, the group was taking home major awards, including top prizes at the International Chamber Music Competition Hamburg in 2009, the 2012 Wigmore Hall London International String Quartet Competition, and the 2014 Osaka International Chamber Music Competition, among others. The
Arcadia Quartet has toured Eastern Europe, the U.K., and cities as far afield as Tel Aviv and Tokyo, appearing at such venues as the Konzerthaus in Berlin, the Salle Gaveau in Paris, and Suntory Hall in Tokyo. Beginning in 2015, the group became ensemble-in-residence at the Tinerimea Roman National Art Centre in Bucharest, Romania. Its collaborators include prestigious musicians in both Eastern and Western Europe, such as pianist
Robert Levin, violinist
Sarah Chang, and the
Belcea Quartet.
The
Arcadia Quartet released its debut album, featuring the
two string quartets of Leoš Janáček, on the Orchid Classics label in 2013, following it up with a recording of
Mendelssohn and Brahms on Fontenay Classics. Signed to the Chandos label, the quartet released an album of Bartók's complete string quartets in 2018. The
Arcadia Quartet has often championed the music of composer
Mieczyslaw Weinberg, and the group returned in 2021 on Chandos with the
first volume of a series devoted to that composer's 17 string quartets.