Psophos Quartet
String Quartet
Eric Lacrouts, violin
Bleuenn Le Maître, violin
Cécile Grassi, viola
Guillaume Martigné, cello
"One of the best young string ensembles in Europe" according to the TimesThe Psophos Quartet is certainly a leading name on the European musical scene.
The Psophos Quartet (Greek for "sound event") was founded in 1997 and is one of the few all-female ensembles to have begun a successful career. Prestigious concert halls such as the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and the Wigmore Hall in London have welcomed them and the Folles Journées (Nantes, Tokyo, Lisbon), the Proms and many other renowned festivals have enriched their career. He has shared the stage with such great musical personalities as Cédric Tiberghien, Emmanuelle Bertrand, Vladimir Mendelssohn, Renaud and Gautier Capuçon, Nicholas Angelich, Bertrand Chamayou, Nemanja Radulović...
The Psophos Quartet, like its predecessors the Ysaÿe Quartet who were their teachers, welcomed new members, Eric Lacrouts (violin) and Guillaume Martigné (cello), in 2009. This change was an enrichment both on the human and musical level. The balance of these new forces gives this ensemble a serenity that perpetuates its maturity and quality.
The first French quartet to be selected for the prestigious New Generation Artists of BBC Radio 3 in London, nominated in January 2005 for the Victoires de la musique, the quartet has made numerous recordings (Mendelssohn, Berg, Schoenberg, Ohana, Bacri, Dvořák), all of which have been rewarded by music critics.
His curiosity pushes him to meet new artists, dancers, actors, directors. During tours, the quartet will play in Asia, Africa, the United States, the Middle East and Europe, where it will also give numerous master classes to share its experience. Trained by the great quartet player Walter Levin, with whom he studied for years in Basel, the quartet will be marked by his passion, his commitment and his musical demands.
For three years, the Psophos Quartet is in residence at the Athénée Théâtre Louis Jouvet in Paris where it offers its own series of chamber music concerts. With Philippe Decouflé in particular, they performed at the Théâtre National de Chaillot in Paris and at the Opéra de Lyon. A new show with Christophe Malavoy Who will remember? will be performed in the fall of 2014 in Paris and in the provinces.
A beautiful encounter with Jean-Marie Machado and Dave Liebman leads them to jazz with "Painting notes in the air", a show often performed on tour and for which a disc will be released in 2014. A magnificent collaboration with Marie-Nicole Lemieux for her album Récital is also planned for 2015.
Photo: © Marie Julliard