Founded in 1997 in Israel, the Aviv Quartet (Sergey Ostrovsky and Philippe Villafranca, violins; Noémie Bialobroda, viola; Daniel Mitnitsky, cello) was awarded the Grand Prix and four special prizes at the Third Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition (1999), First Prize (Amadeus Quartet Prize) at the Charles Hennen Concours, International Chamber Music Competition for Strings (1999), the Schubert Prize at the International Chamber Music Competition ‘Franz Schubert and Modern Music’ (2003), Second Prize and the International Critics Prize at the Bordeaux International String Quartet Competition (2003), and Second Prize at the Prague Spring International Music Competition (1998).

The Aviv Quartet has performed at leading venues worldwide including Carnegie Hall, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Sydney Opera House, Cologne Philharmonie, Vienna Konzerthaus, Wigmore Hall, Royal Festival Hall, The Louvre Auditorium, Théâtre de la ville in Paris, and Beethoven-Haus Bonn.

The Quartet recently presented the Beethoven Quartet cycle in six concerts in Geneva. Its recordings for Naxos, including works by Hoffmeister, Schulhoff and Dohnányi, have been highly acclaimed for their freshness of spirit, vivacity, and outstanding ensemble performance. Aviv, Hebrew for ‘spring’, represents the Quartet’s artistic philosophy of fresh thinking, stripping away artificial coverings to reveal true nature, sharper definition, and heightened awareness.

For more information, visit www.avivquartet.com.