The Arditti Quartet was founded by Irvine Arditti in 1974. It gained recognition by performing interpretations of compositions written in the 20th century. Several hundred quartets and other chamber music compositions were written specially for the Arditti Quartet, which was entrusted with premiere performances of their works by such renowned composers as Cage, Stockhausen, Ferneyhough, Hosokawa, Lachenmann, Kagel, Sciarrino, Ligeti, Gubaidulina, and many others.
The Quartet has recorded more than 180 CDs. The musicians pay close attention to their work with all the contemporary composers whose music they perform live or in recording studios. For example, all the quartets of Luciano Berio were recorded in cooperation with the author. The Quartet has won a lot of prestigious awards and prizes, including the Deutscher Schallplatten Preis, Gramophone Award, Ernst von Siemens Music Prize.
In addition to their concert performances, the Quartet musicians have been teaching for many years during the International Summer Courses for New Music in Darmstadt and have been conducting master classes for young musicians and composers all over the world.
In 2014 the Arditti Quartet marked its 40th birthday by giving concerts in London and Witten (Germany) and by performing world premieres of special event-dedicated compositions of contemporary composers.
