Quatuor Bozzini
The Quatuor Bozzini is a string quartet that specializes in new and experimental music based in Montreal, Canada. Since 1999, Quatuor Bozzini has been an original voice in new, experimental and classical music. Their skew is radically contemporary, propelling the hyper-creative Montréal scene, and beyond. Not content to parlay received wisdom, the quartet cultivates an ethos of risk-taking, and boldly venture off the beaten track. Quatuor Bozzini stands out with their “extraordinary playing” (Alex Ross, The New Yorker). With rigorous qualitative criteria, they have nurtured a vastly diverse repertoire, unbiased by the currents of fashion. This  has led to over four hundred commissioned pieces, as well as close to five hundred premiered works. A Quatuor Bozzini concert is an intensely shared experience, with meticulous and sensuous attention to detail. Praised by its “intense musicality and immense sensitivity” (Musicworks, Canada), Quatuor Bozzini was qualified in the Bandcamp Daily as “one of the most daring string quartets of the entire world.” The group presents an annual concert series in Montréal and also tours extensively in Canada, the United States, South America and Europe. Notable festivals and venues include MärzMusik Berlin (DE); Guildhall Barbican, Aldeburgh, Huddersfield (UK); Klangspuren in  Schwaz, Porgy&Bess (AT); Festival Présences, Festival Riverrun (FR); Angelica, SoundSCAPE (IT); Oslo Poesi (NOR); Gaudeamus, Muziekgebouw, NovemberMusic (NL); Kortrijk (BEL); Ostrava Days (CZ); SIPFEST (ID); Tsuda Hall (JP) TIME:SPANS, Other Minds (USA). Educational initiatives. To ensure continual development in their art, the quartet's musical laboratories, the Composer's Kitchen, Performer's Kitchen and Bozzini Lab, work to mentor and support new generations of composers and performers. The quartet runs its own recording label, Collection QB, and has issued critically acclaimed albums, many of which have become reference recordings in the field. They have also issued albums with Edition  Wandelweiser, Another Timbre, Wergo-Deutscher Musikrat, Centrediscs and ATMA Classique. Awards. In 2018, Quatuor Bozzini was awarded the — Performer of the Year by the Conseil québécois de la musique. Finalist to the 28th Grand Prix (Conseil des arts de Montréal, 2012), Quatuor Bozzini is also the recipient of three Opus Prizes “International Outreach” (2007), “Contemporary Disc of the Year” (2004), and “Discovery of the Year” (2001) as well as the Étoile-Galaxie Prize from Radio-Canada (2001), the Förderpreis Ernst von Siemens Musikstiftung (2007), the German Record Critics Prize for Arbor Vitae (2009) and the 2014 Friends of Canadian Music  Award. Interdisciplinary initiatives & Collaborators. The Quatuor Bozzini has participated in the development and presentation of many interdisciplinary projects. Notable cross-disciplinary collaborators include stage director Jean-Frédéric Messier, dancer and choreographer Marc Boivin, theatrical composer Jennifer Walshe, and videographer Nathalie Bujold. Other composers the quartet has worked with include Denys Bouliane, Louis Dufort, Christopher Fox, Malcolm Goldstein, Michael Oesterle, Martin Arnold and James Tenney. Recordings. The Quatuor Bozzini records primarily under its label Collection QB, founded in 2004; it has released 15 records consisting of both commissioned pieces and experimental works from the 20th and 21st centuries. These recordings appear  frequently in Canada on the CBC and on numerous foreign radio stations. References. https://quatuorbozzini.ca/en/