Michael Trainor - violin
Rebecca Chan - violin
Tetsuumi Nagata - viola
Jessie Ann Richardson - cello
The distinguished Piatti Quartet are widely renowned for their ‘acute sensitivity’ and their ‘lyrical warmth.’ Since their prizewinning performances at the 2015 Wigmore Hall String Quartet Competition, they have performed all over the world and made international broadcasts from many countries.
The Piattis are famed for their diverse programming and for passionate interpretations across the spectrum of quartet writing, tailoring their performances with the violinists regularly swapping parts to bring out extra nuances and colours in every work.
Since their inception they have always had projects in the recording studio with critically acclaimed releases through Linn, Somm, Champs Hill, and NMC record labels. New recordings with Hyperion and Nimbus have brought focus to their disrupted 2020/21 season. Looking ahead, they will form a new relationship with Delphian Records by recording the works of Mark-Anthony Turnage, including their commission of his 4th String Quartet, ‘Winter’s Edge.’
Sharing a stage with guests brings much joy to the quartet. Recent partnerships include Ian Bostridge, Nicky Spence, Michael Collins, Belcea Quartet, Janina Fialkowska, Melvin Tan, Julius Drake, Katherine Broderick and Adam Walker.
Recent seasons have included debuts at the Klara Radio Festival in Brussels, L’Orangerie Musée in Paris, the National Concert Hall in Dublin, Gaudi’s ‘La Pedrera’ in Barcelona, a residency in Aix-en-Provence and the Albert Long Hall in Istanbul. Next seasons include a debut at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam in November 2022, and returns to the Wigmore Hall and Aldeburgh Festival.
Passionate champions of contemporary music, they have made groundbreaking commissions with leading UK composers such as Joseph Phibbs, Emily Howard and Mark-Anthony Turnage, alongside many premieres with composers such as Simon Holt, Freya Waley-Cohen and Darren Bloom. A new recording of the chamber music of Gavin Higgins will be released in October 2021 with an Aldeburgh Festival premiere in 2022.
At the 2015 Wigmore Hall International String Quartet Competition, the Piatti Quartet won 2nd Prize as well as the St.Lawrence SQ prize and the Sidney Griller Award for the best performance of Mark-Anthony Turnage’s Contusion.
They regularly teach at Trinity Laban, Royal Academy of Music, and Purcell School while also doing outreach in primary schools through the Cavatina Music Trust.
The Piatti Quartet takes its name from the great 19th-century cellist Alfredo Piatti, who was a leading professor and exponent of chamber music at the Royal Academy of Music.