March 15, 2025
Multiple Levels Of Virtuosity
Marmen Quartet
Program includes:
Franz Joseph Haydn: String Quartet in E-flat major, Op. 33, No. 2 “The Joke”
Béla Bartók: String Quartet No. 3, Sz. 85
Claude Debussy: String Quartet in G minor, Op.10
With a growing reputation for the courage, vitality and intensity of its performances the Marmen Quartet is fast establishing itself as one of the most impressive and engaging talents in the chamber music arena.
“Performing is all about communication. It’s telling a story and I feel the Marmen are dedicated to this ideal.” -Peter Cropper
Photo by Marco Borggreve
The Artists
Cello
Sinéad O’Halloran
Co-founder & Artist Director of the Ortús Chamber Music Festival, Sinéad is passionate about bringing together Irish and international musicians for concerts, education work and audience development in the wider community. Winner of the RNCM Gold Medal 2021, Sinéad made her Wigmore Hall debut at the invitation of Steven Isserlis as part of the IMS Prussia Cove Tour 2020. She is also a regular guest with the Budapest Festival Orchestra. Upcoming season highlights include the world premiere of Shaun Davey’s Cello Concerto “Refuge” with the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland. Sinéad gratefully acknowledges support from the Arts Council of Ireland, Music Network, the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht.
Photo by Marco Borggreve
Violin
Bryony Gibson-Cornish
New Zealand born Bryony Gibson-Cornish is a keen biker, yogi and violist. Various accolades include being awarded the Tagore Gold Medal upon graduating from the Royal College of Music and studying at The Juilliard School as a Fulbright Scholar. In her spare time, Bryony loves performing with the London Mozart Players, where she is No. 2 Viola. She is also a viola and chamber music professor at the Royal College of Music in London, where she makes her home. She plays a 1932 Vincenzo Sannino Viola, Rome, Italy, and is grateful to the Loan Fund for Musical Instruments for their support.
Photo by Marco Borggreve
Violin
Laia Valentin Braun
Besides his vivid chamber music career, Swiss born violinist Laia Valentin Braun has appeared as a soloist with Kammerorchester Basel and Camerata Zurich. He regularly plays with the Italian based project Spira mirabilis and and has co-founded both chamber music collectives Ensemble Vindeleia, which meets bi-annually in northern Spain, and Ensemble Tamangur, based in the snowy mountains of the Engadin region in Switzerland. Laia has enjoyed playing as a guest in orchestras such as the Zürcher Kammerorchester, Camerata Bern, CHAARTS, BBC Symphony Orchestra and City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra.
Photo by Marco Borggreve
Violin
Johannes Marmen
Johannes was born in a small town in Sweden. Playing the violin eventually took him to Stockholm and on to London where he studied at the Royal College of Music as an ABRSM scholar, majoring in violin and composition. His works and arrangements are played in major halls in Europe including the Elbphilharmonie, Konzerthaus Berlin and Wigmore Hall, and can be found on releases by Orchid Classics and Signum Records. Johannes regularly guest leads orchestras and frequents chamber music festivals, and is a founding member and co-leader of the Sweden based performing collective O/Modernt. He plays a Joseph Gagliano and a bow by Nicolas Leonard Tourte.
Photo by Marco Borggreve
