Krysia Osostowicz coaches the Aestus Quartet
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Since their formation at the Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM) in 2021, the Aestus Quartet have established themselves as a dynamic ensemble that is recognised for their warmth and sensitive musical approach. The name “Aestus” is Latin for sea tide and is inspired by the opening of Benjamin Britten’s String Quartet No. 2: the first piece the Aestus worked on as an ensemble.
In the upcoming 2024-2025 season, the Aestus look forward to joining the class of Quatuor Ébène violinist Gabriel Le Magadure, with monthly visits to the Sergei Rachmaninoff Conservatoire in Paris. They also look forward to participating in the European Chamber Music Academy session in Bern with the Belcea Quartet (December 2024), the Netherlands String Quartet Academy in Amsterdam (2025), and continuing commissions and collaborations with award winning composers Omri Kochavi and Haodong Wang.
In the 2023-2024 season the Aestus completed their appointment as Studio Quartet at the RNCM. During the year, they performed in a residency at Residart with Henk Guittart (Schoenberg Quartet) in Ancona, Italy as well as a concert and masterclasses with the Quatuor Ébène at Oxford Chamber Music Festival Studio. They were honored to be selected as Britten Pears Young Artists and performed in the Britten Studio at Snape Maltings as part of the Chamber Futures residency. During this residency they were mentored by the Quatour Bozzini and premiered a commission from the Britten Pears Arts by composer Omri Kochavi. They were delighted to give the closing performance of the 2024 Royal Philharmonic Society Awards in collaboration with Instrumentalist of the Year winner, Jasdeep Singh Degun and tabla player Harkiret Singh Bahra. Additionally, the Aestus made their Stoller Hall debut as part of the Manchester Chamber Concerts Society 2024 Charlotte Norton Concert. In the late spring, the quartet performed with eminent British and international artists as part of the 2024 Winchester Chamber Music Festival (Gould Piano Trio, Simone van der Giessen, Kate Gould) and 2024 First Light Festival (Donald Grant, Mischa MacPherson). In May the quartet also completed a Chamber Studio UK mentorship programme with John Myerscough (Doric Quartet) at the Royal Over-Seas League.
In the 2022-2023 season, the quartet had a diverse performing calendar including events at the Southwell Music Festival, Ravel Festival Academy with David Waterman (Endellion Quartet) and the Jerusalem Quartet in France, Lake District Music Emerging Artist Series, Enys Chamber Music Festival, Wrexham Classical Music Festival, BBC Philharmonic Young Artist Series at Bridgewater Hall, Buxton Pavilion Arts Centre, Lymm Chamber Music, and Hans Keller Forum with Richard Ireland, John Myerscough, and Alasdair Beatson.
The group are committed to creating and facilitating community outreach. This has led to meaningful projects with Lake District Music, Festival Ravel, and Winchester Chamber Music Festival, among others.
During their time at the RNCM the Aestus have primarily studied with Donald Grant (Elias Quartet) and Petr Prause (Talich Quartet). Here, they were presented the RNCM Weil Prize for Contemporary and Classical Chamber Music repertoire (2022), and were finalists in the RNCM Christopher Rowland Ensemble of the Year, among others. In addition to this, the Aestus also received mentorship from: the Elias Quartet, Levon Chilingirian, Gary Pomeroy, Rakhi Singh, Pavel Fischer, and Johannes Meissl.
The members of the quartet come from diverse backgrounds and have unique interests outside of performance. Leda Mileto, violin I, is from Italy, has formally trained in Dalcroze Eurythmics, and is passionate about learning languages and movie culture. Chris Karwacinski, violin II, is from the UK, holds an additional degree in mathematics, was part of the national karate team, and happens to be an excellent tuba player. Beth Willett, viola, is from the UK and is interested in research and the intersection of music with other academic disciplines as well as ballet, in which she is formally trained. Clara Hope Simpson, cello, is from Canada and the United States, holds a degree in chemistry in addition to her music degrees and enjoys creating traditional Ukrainian egg art.
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Krysia Osostowicz, leader of the Brodsky Quartet, has enjoyed a long career in solo and ensemble playing, and as a teacher of violin and chamber music. Born in London of Polish descent, Krysia studied at the Yehudi Menuhin School, King's College Cambridge and then in Salzburg with the great Hungarian violinist Sandor Vegh. She has collaborated with artists such as Steven Isserlis, Radu Lupu, Thomas Ades, Ralph Kirschbaum and Ferenc Rados.
In the 1980's Krysia toured with the pioneering chamber group Domus, a piano quartet with its own portable concert hall - a geodesic dome - winning two Gramophone awards and a worldwide audience. In 1995 she founded the Dante Quartet, which became recognised as one of Britain's finest ensembles, winning the Royal Philharmonic Society award for chamber music and playing throughout the UK, Europe and Japan. The Dante Quartet was very popular throughout the South West and was central to the formation of the Dante Summer Festival.
Krysia has made many recordings for Hyperion and other labels, and her recordings have been described in Gramophone Magazine as “performances of flawless integrity”. Krysia’s performances of Beethoven’s sonatas, with pianist Daniel Tong, are available as a series of live recorded recitals on SOMM Records. Among her current projects is “Conversations with Bach”, an innovative programme combining Bach’s music with poetry and prose readings, forming a portrait of the musician and the man.