"[Igor Cognolato's] playing is marked by a refined poetic sensibility and a fascination with colour, transformation and the changing character of sound." - from a 5-star review in Amadeus of his Maximiliano Amici recording
Igor Cognolato
"The Rietveld Ensemble allows its audiences to truly experience chamber music" - De Nieuwe Muze, 5 May 2026
Rietveld Ensemble
"...They are fine musicians and excellent instrumentalists ... the quality of the sound, good intonation and perfect balance make this quartet's performance a moving experience."- La Nación de Buenos Aires - A.E. Gimenez
Quartetto di Venezia
"The magic of fascinating cello artistry … contemplative depth … a premonition of fulfilled aesthetic utopia." — Süddeutsche Zeitung
David Stromberg
"Style, interaction, an approach suffused with a sense of humanity: Quatuor Tchalik's performances bear the signature of one of the great French quartets of the new generation!"
Quatuor Tchalik
"A splendid performance guaranteed with the Berlinskaya-Ancelle duo which, by the virtue of their unified playing, is reflected by an irresistible interpretation marked by a wonderful sense of freshness and relief."
Berlinskaya - Ancelle duo
“These four musicians form a brilliant unit. They work together like a well-oiled machine, making music with a single, big beating heart.”
Weinberg Quartet
The third edition of the Februari Festival will be launched in The Hague’s Nieuwe Kerk on Wednesday, 12 February 2020. The very successful 2018 and 2019 editions focused on Mendelssohn, Schumann and Brahms. The 2020 festival will shine a spotlight on Ludwig van Beethoven, a 'free-thinking, unconventional and groundbreaking visionary'.
The second edition of the Februari Festival will be launched in The Hague’s Nieuwe Kerk on Wednesday, 13 February. After a successful first edition in 2018, which focused on Fanny and Felix Mendelssohn as well as Robert and Clara Schumann, this year’s festival will shine a spotlight on Johannes Brahms.
The Alban Berg Ensemble Wien is this year’s ‘Ensemble in Residence’ and will be present in various formations during each day of the festival. This is actually a first: the festival marks the première performance of this acclaimed ensemble in the Netherlands.
Other Squire artists who will be in the spotlights at the Februari Festival will be Quatuor van Kuijk and pianist Ishay Shaer. They will be performing together with many other widely acclaimed Dutch and international musicians at the Nieuwe Kerk in The Hague.
For five full days, the spirit of Franz Schubert could be felt throughout The Hague. The Viennese composer’s chamber music was the common thread running through the Classical Now Festival. Among the festival’s highlights was the reconstruction of a musical soiree organised by Schubert in late March 1828 in memory of Beethoven. It proved to be a long, beautiful evening in the Nieuwe Kerk.
Sunday 17th of January 2016 was “Journée d’audition” during the “Biennale de Quatuors à Cordes” in Paris. This year 15 string quartets from America, Asia and Europe presented themselves to the artistic directors of major concert halls and festivals such as Aix-en-Provence, Amsterdam, Berlin, Brussels, Lisbon, Paris, Tokyo, Verbier and Vienna.
