Quartetto Arriaga

Named after Juan Crisostomo de Arriaga (1806?-?1826) a Spanish composer aptly dubbed the “Spanish Mozart”, the Arriaga Quartet was founded by a group of recent graduates of the Royal Conservatory of Brussels and the illustrious Juilliard School of New York. The group is therefore not only steeped in the traditions of the Belgian school of violin, but has also inherited the more dynamic approach of its mentor, the Juilliard Quartet. This combination of influences has given the Arriaga Quartet both firm technical foundations and the audacity to explore beyond familiar musical horizons. An extremely active recording and live radio broadcast schedule in 1997 helped the Arriaga Quartet earn the coveted Fuga Prize awarded by the Association of Belgian Composers. Besides producing its own yearly Quartet Festival in Bruges and performing regularly at the Festivals of Flanders and Walloonia and the Philharmonic Society, the Arriaga Quartet has been invited to participate in numerous other musical gatherings throughout Europe and in Israel, Mexico, China, Canada and the US. The quartet’s CD recordings include “In Flanders’ Field” (Phaedra), “Quartets Opus 5 and 16 by D. Milhaud” (Discover International), “The Three Arriaga Quartets” (ASV) and “String Quartets by Felix Mendelssohn” (Pavane Belgium).