Judith Busbridge Giles Francis Krysia Osostowicz Bernard Gregor-Smith
Winner of the prestigious Royal Philharmonic Society Award for best chamber ensemble in 2007, the Dante Quartet is known for its imaginative programming and the emotional intensity of its performances. The group was founded in 1995 at the International Musicians Seminar at Prussia Cove, Cornwall, and chose the name of Dante to reflect the idea of a great and challenging journey. The Quartet recently commissioned and premiered five new works inspired by Dante, under the title of the Divine Comedy Project, by Roxanna Panufnik, Cheryl Frances-Hoad, Dmitri Smirnov and Elena and Alissa Firsova.
Krysia Osostowicz (violinist) studied at the Yehudi Menhuin School and Cambridge University before completing her violin studies in Salzburg with the distinguished violinist and quartet leader, Sándor Végh. She has given concerto and recital performances across Europe and made a series of award-winning recordings. Before founding the Dante Quartet in 1995, she played with the pioneering piano quartet Domus, which toured with its own portable concert hall – a large white geodesic dome – and went on to win a worldwide audience and two Gramophone awards in ten years. Krysia is also principal violinist of Endymion Ensemble, specialising in new music, and teaches at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama
Giles Francis (violinist) studied music at Cambridge University, and violin with David Takeno at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. He then completed his violin studies in Amsterdam with István Párkányi, and later studied viola with Vladimir Mendelssohn at the Rotterdam Conservatory. As well as playing in the Dante Quartet, Giles has played with the English Chamber Orchestra, the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, the LSO and the Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam where he lives with his family.
Judith Busbridge (violist) graduated from Birmingham University and completed her viola studies in Salzburg with Thomas Riebl. While there she was appointed principal viola in Sándor Végh’s Camerata Academica. Judith is currently principal viola in both the London Mozart Players and in John Eliot Gardiner’s Monteverdi Orchestra. She is a founder member of the Dante Quartet and also plays with the piano quartet “Touchwood” and the Kegelstatt Trio.
Bernard Gregor-Smith (cellist) studied at London’s Royal Academy of Music with David Cameron. Bernard was a co-founder of the world-renowned Lindsay Quartet, with whom he played for forty years. The recipient of five honorary degrees, he made fifty-five quartet recordings with the Lindsays. Bernard joined the Dante Quartet in 2005 and, in addition, plays with the Primrose Piano Quartet, performs in a piano trio with his wife and violinist Susanne Stanzeleit, and teaches in London,Sheffield University and at the RNCM in Manchester.
Visit the Dante Quartet website To hear them play an extract from the Debussy String Quartet click here and then on the >button on the album cover.