Sonoro Quartet

Founded in 2019 and based in Ghent, the Sonoro Quartet has already established itself as one of the leading young string quartets of its generation. Their repertoire encompasses classical masterpieces as well as works by contemporary composers.

Cork violist Seamus Hickey returns for a second tour with his quartet and they open with Beethoven’s third Rasumovsky quartet, its virtuosic outer movements contrasted with a funeral march and a quaintly old-fashioned minuet. Sean Doherty’s musical roots lie in the Donegal fiddle tradition and his quartet Devil’s Dream offers an exciting and authentic fusion of trad and classical. Shostakovich’s dark and powerful second quartet was written in 1944, its mood and dramatic vision clearly shaped by the ongoing tragedy of the second world war. The extraordinary last movement is devastating in its range and depth of expression.