Needless to say they have won many prestigious prizes in competition including our very own London International String Quartet top prize in 2000 and later in the same year went on to be honoured with the Catalonia Music Critics Prize.
September 2005 saw the release of their triple disc recording of early quartets and divertimenti of W.A. Mozart, this was the quartets third recording for general release with Harmonia Mundi following the success of their previous offering which paired the lone quartet of Claude Debussy with Alexander Zemlinskys second quartet. And the list goes on to include some of Europe most revered composers such as David del Puerto, James MacMillan and Gyorgy Kurtag.
The Players
Vera Martinez Mehner began to play the violin at the age of five studying at the Escuela Superior de Musica in Madrid with Sergei Fatkouline and Zakhar Bron. Since Vera has won various first and second prizes including the Best Interpretation of a Classical Work at the international violin competition Kloster Schöntal in 1995 and Second Prize at the International Henry Wieniawsky Competition in Poland in 1997, she has played parlour music with Marta Gulyàs and Gerard Caussé.
Violinist Abel Tomàs was born in Barcelona in 1980 and began to play the violin seven years old Like Vera he studied with Zakhar Bron and Sergei Fatkouline at the Escuela Superior de Música in Madrid for three years ninety five onward. Abel completed his studies at the Hochschule für Musik in Cologne with Viktor Tretjakov.
Jonathon Brown started his musical life as a violinist at the tender age of four, at the age of twelve he took up the viola where he played the instrument in chamber music groups in his native Chicago, USA. Some will recognise Jonathon from Camerata Salzburg where he was Principal Violist of the Juilliard Symphony and New Juilliard Ensemble.
Last but by no means least we have the founder member of the Casals Quartet Arnau Tomas Realp, our Cello player. Born in Barcelona in 1973 it was the piano which gave him his first insight into playing music at the age of six going on to the Cello at twelve. Arnau has won First Prize at competitions including Germans Claret in 1990, Ciutat de Manresa and Permanente de Juventudes Musicales de España in 1996 and Second Prize at the international competition Jonge Talenten in Holland in 1991. One year later he was invited by the Concergebauw in Amsterdam to participate in a Masterclass with YoYo Ma which was subsequently broadcast on television throughout Holland.
Labels: Casals Quartet, string quartet