Heath Quartet - Biography

The Heath Quartet received support from BBT between 2011 and 2017. For latest information go to heathquartet.com

Sara Wolstenholme violin
Juliette Roos violin
Gary Pomeroy viola
Christopher Murray cello

The charismatic and sought-after Heath Quartet won the 2016 Gramophone Chamber Award for their recording of the complete string quartets of Sir Michael Tippett, and in May 2013 became the first ensemble in fifteen years to win the prestigious Royal Philharmonic Society’s Young Artists Award. Formed in 2002 at the Royal Northern College of Music they were selected for representation by YCAT, awarded a Borletti-Buitoni Special Ensemble Scholarship and in 2012 won the Ensemble Prize at the Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.

Following their award-winning debut recording of Tippett on the Wigmore LIVE label, the quartet recorded two discs for the Harmonia Mundi/PIAS label, supported by its BBT scholarship, featuring Tchaikovsky’s first and third quartets (read reviews here) and, live, the complete Bartók quartets, the latter being shortlisted for the 2018 Gramophone Chamber Award and the winner of the 2017 Limelight Chamber Recording of the Year award (read reviews here).

In Europe the quartet regularly appear in cities such as London, Berlin, Hamburg, Paris, Amsterdam and Brussels. They also continue to maintain a strong presence in North America playing in Chicago, New York, Philadelphia and Toronto, among others.

Strong exponents of contemporary music, the Quartet have performed works by Hans Abrahamsen, Thomas Ades, Louis Andriessen, Brett Dean, Anthony Gilbert, Sofia Gubaidulina, Ligeti, Steven Mackey and John Musto. In 2018 they embarked on a special project with Spanish director Calixto Bieto, in a co-production between the Birmingham Repertory Theatre and Holland Festival with performances throughout Europe.

The Heath Quartet members are Professors of Chamber Music at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, individually holding instrumental teaching posts in the faculty.

Last updated: October 2018

We were thrilled to join the BBT family last year having been awarded the Special Ensemble Award. It has been an invaluable part of our development as a quartet, and the support given by Susan, David and Debra continues to enable our dreams to come true!

Photographs by Patrick Ford