Čiurlionis Quartet

Short biography

Founded in 1968, ČIURLIONIS QUARTET has a reputation of an inventive and technically advanced collective. In 1990, the ensemble was among the first to receive the prestigious Lithuanian National Arts and Culture Prize, the highest award in Lithuania. In 2004, the Quartet captured second prize in the International Chamber Music Competition in Schweinfurt, Germany.

Čiurlionis Quartet’s concerts attracted much attention of the international audiences and media in the EXPO Aichi (Japan), and at the world’s music fair MIDEM 2005 (France), as well as tours in Europe, Canada, UAE, the USA, Mexico, Japan, China and elsewhere. The collective has performed at numerous prestigious festivals, including the “Pražské Jaro”, Schleswig-Holstein, “Europamusikale” and “Amadeo” in Zagreb, “Silk Road” in China, and St Magnus International Festival in Scotland, as well as at the Lithuanian culture season opening events in Krakow.

The Quartet promulgates the name of Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis around the world. During 2011 concert season, dedicated to Čiurlionis’ death centenary, the Quartet gave 100 concerts throughout Lithuania and abroad (completing the tour at the UNESCO hall in Paris), in 2025, to mark the 150th anniversary of Čiurlionis’ birth, the Quartet gave a series of concerts across a wide range of locations, from the Scandinavian countries to Japan and Taiwan. The performers regularly take part in events promoting Lithuanian culture both at home and abroad. To mark Michał Kleofas Ogiński’s 250th birth anniversary, Čiurlionis Quartet performed a special programme in Lithuania and Italy. It took active part in the events of the Centennial of the Restored State of Lithuania at home, in Denmark and Belgium. In 2022, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Lithuanian-Japanese friendship, the Quartet held a concert in Tokyo. The Quartet implemented the Lithuanian National Philharmonic Society’s project Litvak Music Roads, presented a new vinyl record In Loving Memory thereby adding to their already extensive discography.