Kodály Quartet
Founded in 1966 by students of the Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest, the quartet initially named the Sebestyén Quartet won first prize at the 1968 International Leo Weiner String Quartet Competition. By 1971, it gained international recognition and adopted the name Kodály Quartet in honor of the Hungarian composer Zoltán Kodály.
Dedicated to authentic interpretations of Kodály’s works, the quartet also performs major Hungarian composers such as Bartók, Dohnányi, Kurtág, Ligeti, and Durkó, alongside standard classical repertoire. They have toured extensively across Europe, the Americas, Asia, Australia, and New Zealand, appearing at prestigious festivals including Bath, Prague, George Enescu Festival, Budapest Spring Festival, and Korsholm Music Festival.
The ensemble has collaborated with renowned musicians such as Zoltán Kocsis, Miklós Perényi, Bruno Canino, Jeremy Menuhin, and Michel Portal. Their discography includes over 60 recordings, covering complete cycles of Haydn, Beethoven, and Schubert. Highlights include first prize in the Chamber Ensemble category by CD Classics (1994) and a BBC nomination for “Best Chamber Music Recording of the Year” (2007) for their Mendelssohn and Bruch octets.
"The Kodály Quartet give an outstanding performance, strongly characterized and beautifully played, with subtle contrasts of expressive tension between the movements."
- Naxos Review (Complete Haydn String Quartets)
Anna Malikova
Anna Malikova, born in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, received her first piano lessons with Tamara Popovich before studying under Lev Naumov at the Moscow Central Music School and Tchaikovsky Conservatory, where she graduated in 1991 and later taught. Her early career began with performances across the former Soviet Union, followed by international recognition as a prize-winner at major competitions in Oslo, Warsaw (Chopin Competition), and Sydney. In 1993, she won First Prize at the ARD International Music Competition in Munich, the only pianist to do so in twelve years, which established her as an international artist.
Since then, Malikova has appeared with leading orchestras worldwide, given recitals across Europe, Asia, and the Americas, and served as a jury member at prestigious competitions including the Chopin Competitions in Moscow, Beijing, and Warsaw. Her extensive discography includes acclaimed recordings of Chopin, Schubert, Liszt, Prokofiev, Saint-Saëns, and Scriabin, with the Saint-Saëns concerto cycle earning the Classical Internet Award. In addition to her active performing and recording career, she has held a professorship at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna since 2018.
"Pianist Anna Malikova cultivates a big, singing tone and a generous, lyrical style … Malikova’s Schubert easily ranks with the composer’s better-known interpreters, and often surpasses them."
- Classics Today
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“She’s obviously committed to this music, a thoughtful player who doesn’t use any of it as a ‘showpiece’ …”
- Hi-Fi News
Da Vinci Ensemble
The Da Vinci Ensemble was founded in 2023 by violinist Marcello Miramonti, cellist Enrico Graziani, and pianist Francesco Granata with the mission of promoting Italian chamber music worldwide.
The three musicians have performed on some of the most prestigious stages, including the Musikverein in Vienna, BBC Proms and Royal Albert Hall in London, Philharmonie in Paris, and Teatro alla Scala in Milan. Their debut was immediately recognized by Amadeus magazine, which featured them on its cover and released their recording of Martucci’s Piano Trios, later presented on Rai Radio 3.
In 2024, the Ensemble began a collaboration with Brilliant Classics, with forthcoming albums dedicated to Franco Alfano and Ottorino Respighi. They have appeared in major Italian concert societies such as the Società dei Concerti di Trieste, Amici della Musica di Palermo, and Teatro Olimpico di Vicenza, receiving enthusiastic praise from both critics and audiences.
“Sensational… when performers make the best of a repertoire little frequented by the general public, to the point of seeming like a classic already dear to our ears, it means we are faced with true champions.”
- Amadeus Magazine
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Akhtamar Quartet
The Akhtamar Quartet, named after Komitas’ Armenian Miniatures, was founded in Brussels in 2014. Early achievements include selection for Paris’ Philharmonie “tremplins jeunes quatuors” (2016) and prizes at Musiq’3 and the International Johannes Brahms Competition. They perform across Europe and internationally in Armenia, Brazil, and the USA.
Their recordings include Légende arménienne (2020) and Enluminures (2023), featuring works by Komitas, Debussy, and contemporary composers like Eugénie Alécian and Judith Adler de Oliveira. Praised by BBC Music Magazine and Diapason, the quartet champions contemporary music and outreach, performing in schools, hospitals, and psychiatric institutes with projects such as Music 4 Armenia and Music 4 Lebanon.
Members Coline Alecian (1st violin), Jennifer Pio (2nd violin), Cléo Dahan (viola), and Cyril Simon (cello) bring international training and distinctive musical voices, making Akhtamar a dynamic ensemble committed to artistic excellence and accessibility.
"Komitas’s Miniatures are vivid and folk-inflected, while Eugénie Alécian’s Un quatuor arménien offers a more sombre, introspective counterpart. The Akhtamar Quartet delivers both with impressive artistry."
- BBC Music Magazine
Notos Quartet
The Notos Quartet is regarded as one of the "outstanding chamber music formations of our time“ (Fono Forum 9/2017). Besides this piano quartet’s „virtuosic brilliance and technical perfection“ audiences and critics worldwide celebrate the Notos Quartet for its „sense of balance and ensemble playing revealing every detail of the composition“ and praise the musicians for their „profound musicality that goes straight to the heart“.
Since founding the ensemble in 2007 the Notos Quartet has won numerous first prizes at international competitions around the world, including the Schoenfeld International String Competition in China, the Almere International Chamber Music Competition and Charles-Hennen-Concours in Holland, the Premio Vittorio Gui in Italy and the Parkhouse Award in London.
„The Notos Quartet is a fantastic ensemble!” - Zubin Mehta
„Phenomenal, this is true musicianship.” - Lynn Harrell
„the finest chamber music performance I have heard anywhere“
Classical Voice North America, Robert Markow
Girard Quartet
Girard Quartet was born of a shared passion brought to life by family performances of chamber music from a very early age.
At the present time, they are quartet in residence at the Queen Elisabeth of Belgium’s Royal Chapel, where they benefit from close contact with the Artemis Quartet. They are also supported by the Singer-Polignac Foundation.
The Girard Quartet play with internationally renowned musicians such as Philippe Bernold, Maurice Bourgue, Miguel da Silva, Nicolas Dautricourt, etc. Regularly invited by France Musique and by Radio Classique, they also collaborate with Jean-François Zygel. Their first album on the Discophiles Français label was lauded by music critics (Choix de France Musique, Qobuzissime).
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“The Girard Quartet is formed entirely of Girards, and I gather there are five more at home. It is easy to put the members' unanimity of ensemble down to their familial closeness, but there was extraordinary singularity and shared purpose to their playing as they opened Haydn's op.76 no.5 in D major with elegant simplicity and continued with genuine authority. They are also extremely good -the finale hared along. Schumann's A minor Quartet op.41 no.1 was beautifully paced and shaped, with a natural ebb and flow. After a powerful account of the Akshelyan, I left the day thinking this was the quartet to beat.”
-Tim Homfray, The Strad
“Magic trick. This is the case of the Girard quartet, who started the evening with two movements of Maurice Ravel's String Quartet. Remarkable in the mutual listening as in the individual speech, these young chambermasters perfectly restore the paradoxical texture of a work that blisters hot and cold, in the manner of a volcano in activity that would be covered with a pack ice resized by A master glass-maker!”
-Le Monde