Evermay Concert Series

BIOGRAPHY

Modigliani Quartet

Amaury Coeytaux violin
Loïc Rio violin
Laurent Marfaing viola
François Kieffer cello

The Paris based Modigliani Quartet, which was founded in 2003, is a regular guest of the world’s top venues and finest String Quartet & Chamber Music series. It was a special honor for the quartet to be the first string quartet ever performing in the big hall of the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg in 2017.

In season 2019/20, the quartet will be touring in North America and Asia; in Europe they will be performing e.g. at the Wigmore Hall in London, the Liederhalle Stuttgart, the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Philharmonie Paris, Konzerthaus Berlin, Sociedad Filarmónica de Bilbao, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Prinzregententheater Munich, Konzerthus Stockholm, Konzerthaus Vienna or at the LAC Lugano. Further afield, they will make appearances at festivals such as Salzburg Festspiele, Schubertiade Schwarzenberg, Menuhin Festival Gstaad or Schwetzinger SWR Festspiele.

Since its formation, the Modigliani Quartet has been enjoying to perform bigger chamber music works, which is how the quartet has built true artistic friendships with other musicians such as e.g. Nicholas Angelich, Daniel Müller-Schott, Yefim Bronfman, Beatrice Rana or Renaud Capuçon. In 2019/20, such concert highlights will be performances with Christian Zacharias in Evian or a tour throughout Europe with the Schubert Octet, together with Sabine Meyer.

In 2014, the Modigliani Quartet became Artistic Directors of the Rencontres Musicales d’Evian, a festival created in 1976 by Antoine Riboud and made famous through its former legendary artistic director Mstislav Rostropovich, after a pause of thirteen years. The joint efforts of the Evian Resort and the  Modigliani Quartet achieved immediate success and the festival has now become again one of Europe’s major and most publicized summer musical events.

The quartet has been recording for the Mirare label since 2008 and has released 9 CDs, all awarded prizes and receiving international critical acclaim. Their last album, “Portraits”, which was published in January 2019, was featured in the bestseller list 2-2019 (category chamber music) at the “Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik”. “Each single one of the works is shining in a new light and at the same time, in each one, this brilliant ensemble is celebrating itself in a breathtaking stylistic confidence”, says Eleonore Büning in the jury justification.

After fifteen years of building up their own sound and profile, the Modigliani Quartet is now happy to pass their experience to the next generation. In 2016 they created the Atelier within the Festival in Evian and will be organizing the Bordeaux International Competition including a festival and various masterclasses from this season onwards.

Thanks to the generosity and support of private sponsors, the Modigliani Quartet plays on four outstanding Italian instruments: 

Amaury Coeytaux plays a 1773 violin by Giovanni Battista Guadagnini, Loïc Rio plays a 1780 violin by Giovanni Battista Guadagnini, Laurent Marfaing plays a 1660 viola by Luigi Mariani, François Kieffer plays a 1706 cello by Matteo Goffriller.
 
The Modigliani Quartet also thanks SPEDIDAM for its help.