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“Because it doesn't happen often, hearing the chamber music of Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven on period instruments can be a refreshing experience. Toronto's masters of the genre are the Windermere String Quartet.”
~ John Terauds, Toronto Star, January 14, 2010
The Windermere String Quartet was formed in the spring of 2005 to perform the music of Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven, Schubert and their contemporaries on period instruments. The Quartet is rapidly gathering notice for its dynamic performances and distinctive sound. Violinists Rona Goldensher and Elizabeth Loewen Andrews, violist Anthony Rapoport, and cellist Laura Jones are well known to audiences as performers with leading period instrument ensembles throughout Canada and the U.S., between them performing with Tafelmusik, Toronto Consort, Aradia, Masques (Montreal), Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra (San Francisco), Aston Magna (New York), and many others. Along with their wealth of experience in Baroque and Classical styles, the members of the Windermere String Quartet have a wide range of musical tastes and have also been acclaimed for their performances with such groups as Sinfonia Toronto and Talisker Players and Klezmer music with the ensemble HuTsaTsa. These eclectic interests bring a freshness and passionate spontaneity to their performances.
The Quartet’s own series, the Windermere String Quartet Concert Series, was established to explore the well-known masterworks as well as lesser-known gems of the string quartet repertoire on period instruments. In addition, the series occasionally features newly commissioned works, such as quartets by Canadian composers Alexander Rapoport and William Rowson. The series concerts take place in the warm acoustic and intimate atmosphere of St. Olave’s Anglican Church in Toronto’s west end, and have been recorded for broadcast by CBC radio. In addition, the quartet has performed at Toronto’s Academy Concert Series, the Toronto Music Garden, Nuit Blanche, Toronto Early Music Centre’s “Musically Speaking” series, Stratford Chamber Music, and the chamber music festival Music at Port Milford, where they will be returning this summer as resident quartet. The Quartet has enjoyed collaborations with clarinetist Nicolai Tarasov, lutenist/ guitarist Lucas Harris and fortepianist Sharon Burlacoff.