French Van Kuijk String Quartet Awarded Grand Prize at Wigmore Hall Competition

The French-based Van Kuijk Quartet have today been awarded 1st prize at the 2015 Wigmore Hall International String Quartet Competition, in London.

Joint 2nd prize was awarded to the Piatti Quartet, from the United Kingdom and the Verona Quartet, from the United States – with 3rd place presented to the Aizuri Quartet, from the United States.

“Standards have been extremely high and it has shown that the art of The String Quartet is alive and flourishing ...” Competition Chairman John Gilhooly has said, “ ...We have heard 11 fine young ensembles, many of whom will go on to have significant musical careers, but over the course of this week, we feel it is the Van Kuijk Quartet that has shown the most potential at this time.”

The Van Kuijk Quartet, comprising violinists Nicholas van Kuijk and Sylvain Favre-Bulle, violist Grégoire Vecchioni and cellist François Robin will receive £10,000 (US $15,000) and a number of international opportunities - including residencies at the Banff Centre, Aspen Music School, Avaloch Farm Music Institute and the McGill International String Quartet Academy and recital appearances at the Morrison Artists Series and the Royal Greenwich String Quartet Festival.

Founded in 2011 at the Paris Conservatoire, the Van Kuijk ensemble are former 1st prize winners at the International String Quartet Competition in Trondheim, Norway.