Do Fyong Ni, violin

Ekaterina Pogadina, violin

Anna Sazonkina, viola

Tatiana Egorova, cello

Biography

The Dominant Quartet rightly holds one of the leading roles among today’s young generation of musical ensembles in Russia. It was founded at the Gnessin Music Academy in Moscow in 1995 under the professorship of Valentin Berlinsky, the cellist of the world renowned Borodin Quartet.

In 1996, only a year after their foundation, the Dominant Quartet was awarded the Grand Prix at the Shostakovich International String Quartet Competition in St. Petersburg and subsequently joined the Moscow State Philharmonic Society. This first success was soon repeated at the International String Quartet Competition in Bordeaux in 2001, where they were prize winners and awarded a “Prix du Ministere de la Cultura et de la Communication”.

The Dominant Quartet received a number of scholarships, including the Prokofiev Scholarship Award of the Mstislav Rostropovich’s New Beneficent Young Musicians of Russia Fund in 1997 and a scholarship in 1999. Since 2002 the quartet has been awarded the annual grant from the Russian Performing Art Fund.

The Dominant Quartet has extensively toured Russia, Spain, Italy, France, Netherlands, Great Britain and Japan, appearing at the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatoire, the Concertgebow in Amsterdam and the Suntory Hall in Tokyo. The Times described the quartet’s UK debut in 2004 as “outstanding”. Since then the Quartet has performed regular tours around the United Kingdom, including the world famous Wigmore Hall, where the Quartet made their successful debut in October 2006.

The Dominant Quartet has participated in many festivals, including "Mlada Praha" in Prague in 1997, Shostakovich Festival in Sochi in 1997 and in Moscow in 1998, the Sixth International Sakharov Festival in Nizhny Novgorod in 2000, West Cork Chamber Music Festival in Ireland in 2001, Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival in Finland in 2002 and 2004, “December Nights” Festival in Moscow in 2004 and “Music at the Castle” in Taunton, UK, in 2004 and 2006.

The Dominant Quartet made their first recording in 1997, performing Schubert’s String Quintet op. 163 with Valentin Berlinsky and the Shostakovich Quartet No. 8 Op. 110. Their next CD, performing string quartets Nos.7, 8, 9 by a famous Russian composer Mechislav Vainberg, was released in 2000 by Olympia Records. This CD was highly praised by The Strad magazine. The Moscow based Art Classics label has recently released two CDs with live performances of the Dominant Quartet. The first CD includes Souvenir de Florence and Children’s Album by Tchaikovsky with Valentin Berlinsky and Yuri Bashmet. The second CD features the Dominant Quartet performing Haydn Quartet No. 4 Op. 2, Puccini “Crisantemi” and Brahms Quartet No. 3 Op. 67 at the Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival.

Their future plans include their first North American concert tour from March 29 to April 12, 2009, as well as a concert tour around Scotland in March 2007, a recital at Wigmore Hall in December 2007 and the recording of new works by the Russian composer Pavel Markelov, who dedicated numerous of his chamber works to the Dominant Quartet. The release of this CD is expected by May 2007.

March 2007
Please discard all previously printed materials.