Of Woods and Water with ConTempo Quartet: Autumn String Quartet Series 2026

Formed in 1995 in Bucharest and based in Ireland since 2003 as Galway Music Residency’s Ensemble in Residence, the ConTempo Quartet is one of the most exciting and vibrant chamber ensembles performing today. 

They open our autumn season with Haydn’s brilliant and uplifting Op.1 No.1, the first of his sixty-eight extraordinary string quartets which have inspired composers, musicians and audiences ever since. 

Judith Ring’s Of Woods and Water was written in 2022 for the Appalachian Chamber Music Festival in Virginia, USA. It pays homage to two folks tunes, one of Irish origin and one of American origin – Cooney’s Reel and Old Joe Clark.

Beethoven wrote three of his best loved and most serene masterpieces in 1809, the Emperor piano concerto, the piano sonata Les Adieux and this magnificent quartet, all in the warm and radiant key of E flat major. The quartet is full of confidence, lyricism and dramatic contrasts, the work of our greatest composer at the height of his powers. 

ConTempo Quartet 

Bogdan Sofei, violin 

Ingrid Nicola, violin 

Andreea Banciu, viola 

Adrian Mantu, cello 

The Programme 

Haydn - String Quartet in B flat Op.1 No.1 La Chasse [c. 1757] 

Judith Ring - Of Woods and Water [2022] 

Beethoven - String Quartet in E flat Op.74 The Harp [1809]