Nightingale String Quartet  

The Nightingale String Quartet was founded in 2007 by violinists Gunvor Sihm and Josefine Dalsgaard, violist Marie Louise Broholt Jensen, and cellist Louisa Schwab. All four are currently studying for their masters’ degrees at the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen with Professor Tim Frederiksen as their chamber music mentor and coach. The Nightingale String Quartet was awarded the Danish Radio P2 talent prize 2010 “for – with burning passion, irresistible zest, and infectious mutual responsiveness – making the classical string quartet brim over with life, so that the music speaks directly and strongly to the newcomer as well as the experienced listener”. The Nightingale String Quartet has won prizes at several national as well as international chamber music competitions. In June 2008 the Quartet won 1st prize at the Royal Danish Academy of Music scholarship chamber music competition. After playing together for only a year and a half, the Quartet won 2nd prize at the Danish Radio chamber music competition in February 2009. This was to be the beginning of a long succession of concerts in chamber music societies all over Denmark. In April 2010 the Nightingale String Quartet was awarded 2nd prize at the international chamber music competition “Charles Hennen Concours” in Holland. As a result of this prize, the Nightingale String Quartet was invited to take part in the summer course “Orlando Festival” in Holland along with only 3 other prizewinning quartets. At the festival they received dayly coachings from legendary violinist Shmuel Ashkenasi and played several concerts in the area. In 2011 the Quartet was awarded the Jacob Gade Major Scholarship and in 2011 the Léonie Sonning Music Foundation’s Minor Music Prize.

The Nightingale String Quartet’s name is inspired by Danish ‘national author’ Hans Christian Andersen’s story about the nightingale.

www.nightingalestringquartet.com