Quatuor Ébène - About

The first years of a string quartet demand heavy sacrifices for each of its members. BBT has been a great support for us to build up a repertoire and make it live and has allowed us to constantly go beyond our limits. BBT is very much aware of the difficulty and needs of human and artistic results. This partnership allowed us to record a CD, fund work and rest sessions, and we are now swamped with projects! We would like to thank BBT from the bottom of our hearts.

If ever proof was needed that early help with the basics is so important for even the most talented young musicians to succeed, Quatuor Ébène is it. From the promising young French ensemble BBT first met in 2007, when their award bought them new concert clothes, publicity photographs, website training, travel and management costs and purchasing of recording equipment, Quatuor Ébène rapidly soared to the top of its game to become one of the world’s most highly regarded and versatile quartets.

With a free approach to various styles and genres of music-making, the Quartet has developed a musical personality that is recognised throughout the world. Spanning classical to jazz, their unique musical signature underscores live performances, imaginative collaborations, prizewinning recordings and insightful teaching everywhere.

Recordings are a mainstay of any musician’s legacy and BBT was there early on to help the Ébènes by supporting four recordings for Virgin Records: Ravel, Debussy and Fauré String Quartets (2008), the Brahms String Quartet No 1 and Piano Quintet (2009), Felix and Fanny Mendelssohn (2013), and their first jazz album, Fiction (2013). BBT also made a short film about the Ébènes, Hungry for More, and a few years later the ensemble visited the BBT Community-supported Ghetto Classics in Nairobi, working with the programme’s students around performances and the recording of three Beethoven quartets in the city, eventually released as part of the Quartet’s Beethoven Around The World cycle.

Quatuor Ébène also participated in two of BBT’s landmark events, the 10th and 20th anniversary celebrations at London’s Southbank Centre and Wigmore Hall respectively, and attended the Verbier Festival Academy as part of BBT’s support of its Chamber Music Programme from 2006 to 2009, where it won the Prix d’Honneur in 2007.

Quatuor Ébène was supported with a BBT Award between 2007 and 2012.

For a current biography please visit quatuorebene.com

Photographs by Julien Mignot