Quartet wins Music Faculty’s ’Battle of the Bands’

The winning quartet (c. Cavaleri Quartet)

The Cavaleri Quartet has been named as the first recipient of the Radcliffe Chamber Music Residency at the Faculty of Music.

The quartet played a varied programme of Schnittke, Haydn, Webern and Ravel as they competed against others on the afternoon of Tuesday 1 November in the Holywell Music Room. Each quartet also coached a student piano trio to demonstrate how they would interact with Oxford student performers.

A judging panel consisting of Professor Laurence Dreyfus and Martyn Harry of the Faculty of Music and Andrew McGregor of BBC Radio 3 selected the Cavaleri Quartet and were aided in their decision by 23 students of the Faculty who gave feedback on the performances of the quartets vying for the post.

Professor Laurence Dreyfus said: ‘The University is delighted to be launching an exciting new chamber residency for young artists with the support of the Radcliffe Trust and the Cavaleri Quartet will be a valuable addition to the Oxford musical community. The panel were particularly impressed with the quartet’s communicative refinement in conveying musical gesture and their deeply held musical convictions.’

The quartet - which consists of Anna Harpham (violin), Ciaran McCabe (violin), Anna Beilby (viola) and Rowena Calvert (cello) – are the first holders of the Radcliffe Chamber Music Residency 2012-2013. They will be in residence in Oxford for a week each term over a period of two years to perform at free concerts for the public, and also to play ‘first runs’ of pieces composed by students from the Faculty. Undergraduates and postgraduates will also be tutored at an individual level by the musicians.

The University’s Faculty of Music has launched the residency with the support of the Radcliffe Trust, which makes grants principally to projects within Music and Heritage and Crafts. The professional quartets chosen were selected from a strong field of string quartets that have formed in the last five years.

The Cavaleri Quartet faced stiff competition from the Finzi Quartet, the Piatti Quartet and the Benyounes Quartet.