Vilnius String Quartet

Vilnius String Quartet (Lithuania)

Audrone Vainiunaite, violin  

Arturas Silale, violin

Girdutis Jakaitis, viola

Augustinas Vasiliauskas, cello

The Quartet made its debut in 1965. The intensive work began three years later, when the members of the Quartet finished post-graduate studies under Prof. Gvozdetsky at the Moscow Conservatoire and received further training in Budapest under Prof. Andras Mihaly. In 1972 the Quartet won the highest award at the international string quartet competition in Liege (Belgium). In 1979 the ensemble received the Lithuanian National Award, and in 2002 was granted Dr. Antanas Razma Prize (USA).

Having toured in 30 countries of the world, the Quartet gives around 80 concerts each year in Europe, Central and South America, Asia and Africa. The Quartet has given concerts in such renowned concert halls as Merkin Concert Hall and Carnegie Hall (New York), Severance Hall (Cleveland), Tchaikovsky Conservatoire (Moscow), Gewandhaus (Leipzig), Musikverein (Vienna), Bayerische Rundfunk (Munich), Glenn Gould Studio (Toronto), Salle Olivier Messiaen (Grenoble), Mozarteum (Salzburg), Arsenal (Metz), Poirel (Nancy) etc.

Thanks to its huge repertoire the Quartet has been repeatedly invited to recording studios of many countries, has made numerous recordings that are included in various collections. It has released over 30 records and CD’s in Lithuania, Russia, Germany, France, Finland, Sweden and USA.

The creative work of the Vilnius String Quartet embodies a whole epoch of Lithuania’s cultural life and is an example of the musician’s deep sense of mission. During three decades the musicians have established a unique tradition of interpretation, noted for the ability to reveal the deepest layers of meaning of music, a wide range of sound, colors and emotions, perfect ear to all the different nuances of the sound of various epochs.