Andrej Bielow - Violin

Grzegorz Kotow - Violin

Vladimir Mykitka - Viola

Marcin Sieniawski - Cello

"This Warsaw foursome has superb technical control, innate musicality and an extraordinary sense of ensemble. Couple that with a deep understanding of their repertoire and an involvement that communicates itself electrifyingly to an audience, and the Szymanowski Quartet bears the hallmark of greatness. (ä) I guarantee you will be hearing a lot more from this gifted young group."

Paul Cutts, The Strad, May 2003

Since its founding in Warsaw in 1995, the Szymanowski Quartet has developed into one of the most charismatic string quartets of the younger generation. In May 2001 they were selected by BBC Radio 3 to participate in the New Generation Artists Scheme for the next seasons, which, in addition to frequent studio recordings for the BBC, includes concerts in various BBC series.

Awards at well-known competitions, including the "Premio Vittorio Gui" in Florence and the 1997 "In Memoriam Dmitri Shostakovich" in Hanover, soon confirmed the extraordinarily high standards of the Quartet. In 1999 they won both the second prize and the audience prize at the International Chamber Music Competitions in Osaka and Melbourne.

The last few seasons have included invitations to renowned festivals such as the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, Würzberg Mozart Festival, Bregenzer and Schwetzinger Festspiele, Niedersächsische Musiktage and the Festivals of Chester, Huddersfield, Luxembourg and Lockenhaus. The Quartet has performed concerts in Paris, Lyon, Grenoble and Bremen, and made an Australian tour of ten concerts under the auspices of Musica Viva.

The Szymanowski Quartet has made debuts at Carnegie Hall in New York, the Perth Festival, the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, the BBC Proms and the Grünewald Hall in Stockholm. They were invited back to perform at London's Wigmore Hall, The City of London and Chester Festivals, and concerts in Manchester, Winterthur, Bonn, Hanover and Santiago di Compostela. The Szymanowski Quartet made its debut at the Bath Festival in May 2004.

After its foundation in Warsaw, the Szymanowski Quartet studied in the chamber music class of the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Hanover, which was founded especially for the Quartet by their teacher and mentor Hatto Beyerle. Although they have now finished their studies in Hanover, the Quartet continues to refine their musical skills by participating in master classes with such teachers as Walter Levin and the Amadeus, Emerson, Juilliard and Guarneri Quartets. Since the fall of 2000, the Szymanowski Quartet has been "Quartet in Residence" and teaching chamber music at the Musikhochschule Hanover.

Composers they have worked with include Magnus Lindberg, Elena Kats-Chernin, Philip Cashian and Andrew Toowey, several of whom dedicated their works to the Szymanowski Quartet.