Čiurlionis Quartet

Short biography

A long-time fosterer of chamber music tradition, ČIURLIONIS QUARTET was founded in 1968. Although generations of the Quartet musicians have changed over the decades, it has always been renowned as an inventive and technically advanced ensemble. In 1990, Čiurlionis Quartet was the first Lithuanian quartet to be awarded the National Prize for Culture and Art, Lithuania’s highest cultural award. In 2004, the Quartet captured second prize in the International Chamber Music Competition in Schweinfurt (Germany). After its debut at London’s renowned Royal Festival Hall, the cultural magazine Musical Opinion wrote of “a wonderful, simply brilliant interpretation of the works that reminded London chamber music lovers of how quartet music should be performed”. 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 ensemble has performed at numerous prestigious festivals, including the Pražské jaro, Schleswig-Holstein, Europamusikale, 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 celebrates the name of Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis worldwide. 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, the 150th anniversary of Čiurlionis’ birth, the ensemble’s concert itineraries span from Scandinavia to Japan and Taiwan. The Quartet participates in events promoting Lithuanian culture at home and abroad: to mark Michał Kleofas Ogiński’s 250th birth anniversary it performed a special programme in Lithuania and Italy; took part in the events of the Centennial of the Restored State of Lithuania at home, in Denmark and Belgium; held a concert in Tokyo on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Lithuanian-Japanese friendship; etc. The Quartet implemented the Lithuanian National Philharmonic Society’s project Litvak Music Roads, presented a new viny record In Loving Memory, adding to its extensive discography.