"The ASQ’s interpretations are renowned for their tight
ensemble playing, their elegance and their careful attention
to the tonal colour nuances."
Volkskrant [NL] September 2009
"finesse combined with fire on historical instruments"
Volkskrant [NL] 2006
"… what gorgeous playing! … [the quartet members]
play fantastically together and form a tight ensemble …
All of Haydn’s challenges sound superiorly simple.
The result is a delight for the ear..."
Luister [NL] April 2009
The Amsterdam String Quartet is one of today’s leading period instrument string quartets. The ensemble is specialised in the repertoire of the golden age of the string quartet: from the second half of the eighteenth to the first half of the nineteenth century. The ASQ performs works by Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann and Mendelssohn as well as the finest works of their lesser known contemporaries. Its members are all internationally respected specialists at the forefront of the early music scene. They are violinists Fredrik From and John Wilson Meyer, violist Bjarte Eike and cellist Thomas Pitt.
The Amsterdam String Quartet enjoys a busy international concert schedule and has presented its own concert series in the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and Vredenburg Utrecht since 2003. They have collaborated with Gary Cooper, Ronald Brautigam, Alexei Lubimov, Melvyn Tan, Teunis van der Zwart and Alexis Kossenko. Recent successes include three concerts at Vestfold Festspillene (Norway), two concerts at Ryedale Festival and an appearance at the prestigious Buxton Festival. Future plans include their London debut (October 2009), an education project at Birmingham Conservatoire in collaboration with Professor Simon Keefe, and further exploratory work into playing techniques and style with the eminent scholar/performer Professor Clive Brown.
The quartet’s second Haydn CD was released in January 2009 on Channel Classics and was immediately presented as CD of the week by national Dutch radio and awarded at ‘10’, the highest accolade, in the Dutch national classical music magazine, Luister. Their debut Haydn CD was released in Spring 2007 and was included in the top ten CD’s of the Month by Luister.
The ASQ can be regularly heard on Dutch classical radio and enjoys the generous support of several of Holland’s leading cultural foundations.