Lipkind Quartet
Biography Lipkind Quartet
Founded by cellist Gavriel Lipkind, this unusual string quartet has come to stand apart because of the radical and deep thought it invests in every stage of its work; starting with social and inter-personal aspects of working in a quartet and ending with the finest subtleties of an inspired bow stroke. Quartet-playing as a musical form goes back as far as the late Baroque period. While the different practices of working within a quartet are the result of a long evolution over many decades, many
of these practices and traditions compromise the quality of a quartet’s output. Modern quartets follow traditional models believing that these cannot be further optimised.
The Lipkind Quartet has been looking for new ways to improve and optimise the interpretative process, administrative work-flow, social structure and therefore performance quality of this musical form, leading to the Lipkind Quartet’s distinctive, intrinsically scientific and yet individualistic approach to working and performing within a quartet.
The main idea behind the Lipkind Quartet’s motivation is nourished by four people who follow a clear structure in order to uncompromisingly produce creative work over many years. The rehearsal process is organised and guided by Gavriel Lipkind. As noted by a fellow musician: “…the ability of these four dominant players to go deeper into the musical tissue, while fully avoiding social clashes, must be the main reason for a recognisably unique sound, captivating in its clarity of musical thought as well as its instrumental power and flair.” After many years of preparation, spending as much time conceptualising and analysing the scores as they do playing together, the Lipkind Quartet will finally embark upon its first concert season in 2008-09. Along with over 20 concert performances, the Lipkind Quartet will take part at the Gaia Festival (Thun, Switzerland), the Zeist Festival (the Netherlands), special events in Germany, Israel, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, and radio productions and performances in Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland. The 2010-11 season sees the Lipkind Quartet undertaking tours of Central Europe, Norway, and debuting in the USA, Japan and Russia. In December 2009, a recording production will take place.
