With the courage, vitality and intensity of its performances, the Marmen Quartet has fast established
itself on the international scene as one of the most impressive and engaging talents in chamber
music. The highlights of its 2025–26 season include concerts at Konzerthaus Dortmund,
Rotterdam’s De Doelen, Boulez Saal, Wigmore Hall, The Library of Congress and Princeton
University, as well as its debut at Beethovenfest Bonn.
The quartet brings its energy and intelligence to a broad variety of repertoire, from Joseph Haydn
and Debussy to brand new works. Commissions have included Garth Knox’s Secret Letters (written
for the group as a companion piece to Janáček’s Intimate Letters), Salina Fisher’s Heal and
Benjamin Staern’s String Quartet no.1. In January 2026, the quartet returns to String Quartet
Biennale Amsterdam for several performances, including a collaboration with percussionist DOMNIQ
and a world premiere by Samuel Adams. The quartet made its Australian debut in 2023, playing a
work written for them by Hannah Kendall as part of the Australian National Academy of Music’s
Quartetthaus project.
The Marmen records for BIS and its schedule also demonstrates the players’ wide-ranging musical
appetite. Their debut album featured music by Bartók and Ligeti and won the prestigious accolades
of Diapason d’Or and Gramophone’s Editor’s Choice and was selected as a BBC Music Magazine
Chamber Choice. Recording plans include music by Debussy, Ravel, Haydn, Chausson and
Takemitsu.
The quartet has played in the UK’s most prestigious venues, including Wigmore Hall and Cadogan
Hall (for the BBC Proms), and its reputation has spread across Europe, with performances at Berlin
Philharmonie, Boulez Saal, Frankfurt Alte Oper, Stockholm Concert Hall and Muziekgebouw
Eindhoven. The group is a favourite at music festivals, having appeared at West Cork, Lockenhaus,
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Rheingau, Heidelberg, Zeister Musiekdagen, and Lofoten as well as
specialist quartet festivals in Amsterdam and Barcelona, and for the Gulbenkian Foundation.
Further afield, recent North American highlights have included performances at Rockport and Music
Mountain chamber music festivals, as well as in Calgary, Kelowna and Victoria, and as part of
Capital Region Classical series.
First prize winners at the prestigious Bordeaux and Banff International String Quartet Competitions,
the quartet formed at the Royal College of Music in 2013 and has returned there as Quartet in
Association. The group held a Guildhall School of Music String Quartet Fellowship (2018–20) and
studied at the Hochschule für Musik in Hannover with Oliver Wille, as well as in London with Simon
Rowland-Jones and John Myerscough (Doric Quartet). They were mentored by the late Peter Cropper
and have received support from the Musicians Company/Concordia Foundation, Hattori Foundation,
Help Musicians and Royal Philharmonic Society. The Marmen Quartet is an official Pirastro Artist.
Instruments
Johannes Marmen: 1796 Joseph Gagliano violin, bows by Leonard Tourte, Lauri Tanner
Laia Valentin Braun: French violin, 1804, bows by Etienne Pajeot, Caressa et Français
Bryony Gibson-Cornish (Stradivari Trust Artist): 1610 Brothers Amati viola, formerly played in the
Lindsay and Allegri Quartets, courtesy Stradivari Trust; bows by Lauri Tanner
Sinéad O’Halloran: 1714 David Tecchler cello, kindly on loan from Royal Society of Musicians; bows
by Lauri Tanner and Dominique Peccatte
The Marmen Quartet gratefully acknowledges the support of Florian Leonhard Fine Violins
