Irish RTE Vanbrugh Quartet, one of Europe's most successful quartets, is to performa in Shanghai this Friday night.

Winner of the 1988 London International String Quartet Competition and now in its nineteenth concert season, the RTE Vanbrugh Quartet is one of Europe's most successful quartets, widely recognised for its beauty of sound, clarity of texture and integrity of interpretation.

The Quartet is based in Cork as Resident Quartet to Radio Telefis Eireann, Ireland's national broadcasting service; the members of the Quartet are also Artists in Residence to University College, Cork, and founders of the internationally acclaimed West Cork Chamber Music Festival.In April 2005 the Quartet hosted European Quartet Week, as part of Cork's tenure as European Capital of Culture. The RT¨¦ Vanbrugh Quartet's current overseas season includes concerts in the UK, the USA, Italy, Austria and Turkey.

Hyperion will shortly release the second of two Vanbrugh Quartet CDs of chamber music by Charles Villiers Stanford ("alive with melodic invention and supremely crafted... consistently stylish playing" Classic FM magazine). The Quartet's recent recording of three of Boccherini's cello quintets, on Hyperion, was featured as Editor's Choice in Gramophone magazine ("delectable, sophisticated, nostalgic"); other recent CDs include Metronome¡¯s second CD devoted to the music of Piers Hellawell, a Black Box release of Ian Wilson's three quartets and a recording for Hyperion of works for quartet and soprano by John Tavener. They join a discography of twenty-one releases which includes the complete Beethoven Quartets ("mighty impressive throughout" BBC Music Magazine) and works by Haydn, Schubert, Dvorak, Janacek, Dohnanyi, E.J. Moeran, Robert Simpson, John Tavener, John McCabe, John Kinsella, Raymond Deane, Brian Boydell and Walter Beckett.

Ashildur Haraldsdottir was born in Reykjavik, Iceland in 1965. She started to playing the flute at the age of nine and graduated from the Reykjavik Conservatorie when she was seventeen. She continuied her musical training in the USA, first at the New England Conservatorie and finally at internationally renowned Juilliard School of Music from where she graduated in 1988. Her teacher was Samuel Baron. She then continued her studies with Thomas Nyfenegger and Alain Marion.

A Promoter of new Music, Ashildur has premiered many new works written specially for her, itroducing new Iceland music in Sweden and in the USA. Ashildur is the first prize winner of various competitions, has toured extensively as a soloist in America, Mexico, England, Iceland and Sweden, and has frequently appeared on radio and television.

Irish RTE Vanbrugh Quartet
Date/Time: 7:30pm, November 24
Venue: Shanghai Concert Hall, No.523 Yan'an Donglu 
Ticket Price (RMB): 350, 250, 150, 80 Yuan 
Booking Hotline: 62172426, 62173055