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 “…first class quartet with cultivated musicality, rock steady intonation and a sense of collegial give and take…” New York Times.
Also performing Ilze Urbane (flute), Marcis Kulis (clarinet), Latvia.
Program: Sibelius, Mozart.
The Jean Sibelius Quartet was established in 1980. In the same year, the family of Jean Sibelius gave the group permission to use the name of the Finnish maestro. The instant success of their 1981 debut led immediately to engagements with the major Finnish and Swedish music festivals.
After their international breakthrough at the West Berlin Music Festival 1983, the quartet has performed in most European countries, India, USA, China, South-Korea, Chile and Japan. According to the New York Times, their debut in the Merkin Hall in 1985 showed “first class quartet with cultivated musicality, rock steady intonation and a sense of collegial give and take”.
The Jean Sibelius Quartet was awarded a special scholarship by the Finnish government in 1985, and has made recordings for both Finlandia Records and Ondine labels. Most recently the ensemble has recorded the complete string quartets of Aulis Sallinen and string quintet and two quartets by Einojuhani Rautavaara for the Ondine label. In 1991, the quartet received an award from the Chilean Art Critics Society for the year’s best international music performance in Chile. In 1998, at the Cracow Days of Contemporary Music in Poland the quartet was given the award of the best performance by the international critics.
The Jean Sibelius Quartet has been performing stylistically most diverse works. They are at ease with classical masters, such as Haydn or Mozart, but at the same time they are famous for their interpretations of the newest string quartet literature. The quartet has been working closely with composers like Sofia Gubaidulina, Aulis Sallinen, Einojuhani Rautavaara, Jouni Kaipainen, Magnus Lindberg, Haridas Greif and many others. The quartet has performed at the Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival every year since 1981 and it undoubtedly ranks among the most sought-after quartets in Scandinavia.
The members of the Jean Sibelius Quartet are:
Yoshiko Arai, violin
Jukka Pohjola, violin
Matti Hirvikangas, viola
Seppo Kimanen, cello | 
