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The Pharos Trust presents, with the support of the Embassy of the Republic of Poland, a concert by The Szymanowski Quartet on Thursday 14 December 2006 at 8.30pm, at the PASYDY Auditorium in Nicosia. The evening’s programme comprises works by Haydn, Shostakovich and Schubert. The Szymanowski Quartet will also give student concerts in Nicosia as part of the Trust’s Music Education Programme, developed in association with the Ministry of Education and Culture.
Founded in Warsaw in 1995, the Szymanowski Quartet has developed into one of the most charismatic string quartets of the younger generation. In May 2001 they were selected by BBC Radio 3 to participate in the New Generation Artists Scheme, a project including frequent studio recordings for the BBC as well as concerts in various BBC series. In the UK they have played at the Chester Festival, the City of London Festival, the Wigmore Hall, the Huddersfield Festival, the BBC Proms, the Bath Festival and at many other venues. Awards at well-known competitions, including the "Premio Vittorio Gui" in Florence and the 1997 "In Memoriam Dmitri Shostakovich" in Hanover, soon confirmed the extraordinarily high standards of the Quartet. In 1999 they won both the second prize and the audience prize at the International Chamber Music Competitions in Osaka and Melbourne. The last few seasons have included invitations to renowned festivals such as the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, Würzberg Mozart Festival, Bregenzer and Schwetzinger Festspiele, Niedersächsische Musiktage and the Festivals of Luxembourg and Lockenhaus. The Quartet has performed concerts in Paris, Lyon, Grenoble and Bremen, and has toured Australia and the United States of America. The Szymanowski Quartet has played at Carnegie Hall in New York, the Perth Festival, the Concertgebouw Amsterdam and the Grünewald Hall in Stockholm, as well as in Winterthur, Bonn, Hanover and Santiago di Compostela. After its foundation in Warsaw, the Szymanowski Quartet studied in the chamber music class of the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Hanover, which was founded especially for the Quartet by their teacher and mentor Hatto Beyerle. Although they have now finished their studies in Hanover, the Quartet continues to refine their musical skills by participating in master classes with such teachers as Walter Levin and the Amadeus, Emerson, Juilliard and Guarneri Quartets. Since the autumn of 2000, the Szymanowski Quartet has been "Quartet in Residence" and teaching chamber music at the Musikhochschule Hanover. In 2005 the Szymanowski Quartet was awarded the prestigious Polish Karol Szymanowski Award for its “unique artistry in the interpretation of the music of Karol Szymanowski and for the consistent international furthering of this music.” Previous recipients of this award have included Sir Simon Rattle and the pianist Piotr Anderszewski.