Undoubtably one of the major quartets of today, the Borodin String Quartet was formed in 1945 by students of the Moscow Philharmonic. Cellist Valentin Berlinsky has been with the quartet since its earliest days and violinist Andrei Andrei Abramenkov joined over 25 years ago. Igor Naidin learnt the art of Quartet playing from several Borodins including the Quartet's violost, Dmitri Shebalin, whom he eventually replaced.