Biography —

Michael Trainor, violin
Emily Holland, violin
Miguel Sobrinho, viola
Jessie Ann Richardson, cello

The distinguished Piatti Quartet are widely renowned for their ‘profound music making’ (The Strad) and their ‘lyrical warmth’ (BBC Music Magazine). Since their prizewinning performances at the 2015 Wigmore Hall String Quartet Competition, they have performed all over the world and made international broadcasts from many countries. The Piatti Quartet is Resident Quartet at Kings Place in London.

The Piattis are famed for their diverse programming and for passionate interpretations across the spectrum of quartet writing and have commissioned and recorded some of the most major and impressive works added to the quartet canon in recent years.

Since their inception they have always had projects in the recording studio with critically acclaimed releases. Accolades in 2023 include Gramophone’s ‘Editor’s Choice for the Month’ with NMC, a five-star review from BBC Music Magazine with Delphian and in 2022 they were nominated for ‘Recording of the Year’ with both Limelight and Gramophone for their collaborative disc on the Hyperion label. Their wide-ranging discography and repertoire is thanks to their enthusiasm and curiosity in collaborating with a broad range of artists including some of the most recognisable names in classical music such as Nicky Spence, Julius Drake, Michael Collins, Barry Douglas, Ian Bostridge, Katherine Broderick, and the Belcea Quartet to name a few.

Contemporary music has been ever present in their repertoire and leaving a legacy to the quartet genre through commissions is one of the quartet’s central tenets. Major commissions and dedications have stemmed from Mark-Anthony Turnage, Emily Howard, Charlotte Harding, and Joseph Phibbs whilst they have premiered a mesmerising number of new works over the years beginning with Anna Meredith back in 2009. The Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Flagey Radio Hall Brussels, Wigmore Hall London, and the Aldeburgh Festival are some of the high-profile occasions where new music has been presented and recordings of Turnage’s quartets 1-4 and Gavin Higgins’ chamber music has also been extensively lauded by critics.

Historical research into quartet music that has been undiscovered or deserves to be better known has led to the premiere recording of Ina Boyle’s (Ireland) SQ in E minor, and performances of lesser-known quartet gems by Ralph Vaughan Williams, E.J. Moeran, Rachmaninov, Ireland, Haas, Ulmann, and Durosoir.

The quartet’s name is dedicated to Alfredo Piatti, a 19th Century virtuoso cellist who was a professor at the Royal Academy of Music (the alma mater of the founders of the quartet) and also a major exponent of chamber music and contemporary music of his time.