’Cultured beauty from outstanding musicians’

The Arts Desk on the Solem Quartet

The Solem Quartet has established itself as one of the most innovative and adventurous quartets of its generation. Recently announced as an awardee of the Jerwood Arts Live Work Fund, one of 33 artists selected from more than 1200 applicants, the Solem Quartet takes its place amongst some of the UK’s brightest artistic voices, with award recipients spread across practices including music, theatre, opera, circus, dance, live art and performance.

​

They are joined by Artistic Director of Spotlight Chamber Concerts, clarinettist Anthony Friend, whose playing as been described by The Times as ‘delicious’ and by The Telegraph as ‘energised and raunchy, but not too much’.

 

Bassoonist Catriona McDermid has played guest principal bassoon with orchestras such as the London Philharmonic Orchestra and RTÉ Symphony Orchestra and is a passionate chamber musician; she is a member of wind quintet the Magnard Ensemble and has performed as a soloist on BBC Radio 3’s In Tune.

 

Stephen Craigen is a horn player in demand across the UK and Europe whose playing has been described as “particularly polished” (The Independent). He appears regularly as guest principal with orchestras such as the London Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra and City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, and with the Royal Danish Orchestra in Copenhagen. As a chamber musician he has collaborated with artists including Roman Simović, Thomas Carroll and Boris Kucharsky.

 

Double bassist Marianne Schofield is a founder member of ground-breaking contemporary quartet The Hermes Experiment and an artistic board member of the award-winning contemporary collective Riot Ensemble. She has performed as a chamber musician with the Haffner Wind Ensemble, the Navarra quartet, Chroma, the Harborough Collective and Berkeley Ensemble, and plays with orchestras such as the Aurora Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, English National Opera, London Symphony Orchestra, and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra