The Model

In 2005 the quartet released their debut album on the Signum label, featuring Steve Reichʼs Different Trains, Triple Quartet and Duet. The album received rave reviews. Their next CD, Ghost Stories, also on Signum, featuring a new version of Sinking of the Titanic written for The Smith Quartet by Gavin Bryars received further enthusiastic critical acclaim, Andrew Clements at The Guardian commented that the release was “…superbly played…”

Spring 2008 marks the quartets latest release on Signum Classics, Complete String Quartets by Philip Glass. This release has received considerable critical acclaim and coverage in the media in a very short space of time. The Observer reports that “…Glass weaves filigree tapestries given polished, finely detailed airings by the virtuoso Brits”, while The Guardian kindly notes that the quartet are “…Britain’s answer to the Kronos”. Classic FM Magazine goes one step further proclaiming “How long before the Kronos is labelled the ‘American Smith Quartet’? …they are ahead of the curve at generating new repertoire and taking the experimental back-catalogue seriously…”

The quartet’s touring schedule has taken them as far a field as North and South America, Hong Kong, South Korea and Japan as well as throughout Europe and the UK. In the last number of seasons festival appearances have included Les Jardins Musicaux Switzerland, West Cork Chamber Music Festival, The Música Viva Festival in Lisbon, Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, La Biennale di Venezia,and the Flanders Festival Brussels. Highlights have included a sold out performance at the BBC’s John Adams Weekend at the Barbican and the European premiere of Steve Reich’s Triple Quartet at Cheltenham International Festival. They have collaborated with an eclectic range of artists such as Django Bates, saxophonist Andy Sheppard, John Harle, Gerard McChrystal, Mali world music singer Rokia Traore and dance companies Siobhan Davies, Shobana Jeyasingh and Ultima Vez.

The Quartet enjoys a fruitful relationship with their sound designers soundintermedia.

In 2005, the Smith Quartet appeared in BBC 2’s Holocaust – A Music Memorial Concert from Auschwitz filmed on location in Auschwitz. They performed Steve Reich’s Different Trains and Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time. The film marked the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz and was shown in many countries throughout the world. It has won numerous prestigious awards including a BAFTA and an Emmy in 2006.

The quartet enjoyed a number of prestigious residencies in their 2006/7 season including furthering their ongoing relationship with Queens University Belfast as their quartet in residence at the Sonic Arts Research Centre (SARC) as well as a series of European concerts featuring the work of celebrated Portuguese composers as part of Miso Music’s Circuits tour. As artists in residence at the 2006 Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, they performed all of Morton Feldman’s works for piano and strings together with the celebrated pianist John Tilbury. These concerts were recorded live and will be released by Matchless records.

The Smith Quartet is Ian Humphries and Darragh Morgan (violins), Nic Pendlebury (viola), and Deirdre Cooper (cello).

A groundbreaking piece, Rush, for violin and live electronics featuring the Wired Ensemble and Darragh Morgan, premiered in 2004 at the Sonorities Festival, was recently shortlisted for a British Composer Award. In 2005 the Australian guitar virtuoso Alan Banks released a CD which included Mnemonics for solo guitar. RUSH, a new CD featuring Blitzed, Dazed by the Haze and Rush, all for violin and electronics, performed by Darragh Morgan, was released in July 2008. Frank Lyons currently lectures in composition, music technology and popular music at the University of Ulster.