Biography —
Michael Trainor, violin
Emily Holland, violin
Miguel Sobrinho, viola
Jessie Ann Richardson, cello
The distinguished Piatti Quartet are widely renowned for their ‘profound music making’ (The Strad) and their ‘lyrical warmth’ (BBC Music Magazine). They have always featured prominently in London, where they are based, with many critically acclaimed concerts at Kings Place (Resident Quartet 2023-2026), St.Martin-in-the-Fields, and at Wigmore Hall while also performing across the globe in major cities such as São Paulo, Istanbul, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Brussels, Dublin and Melbourne to name a few. They rose to international prominence through their multiple prizewinning performances at the 2015 Wigmore Hall International String Quartet Competition.
The Piattis are famed for their diverse programming and passionate interpretations across the spectrum of quartet writing with commissions and recordings of some of the most major and impressive works added to the quartet canon in recent years as well as historical gems brought to the fore for the first time from Ina Boyle to Louise Farrenc to Michael Tippett.
Since their inception they have always had projects in the recording studio with award winning and 5 star releases through a multitude of classical music’s top recording labels. They recently joined the world class roster of artists at the Chandos label with their first release featuring the string quartets of Ralph Vaughan Williams in January 2027.
Their wide ranging discography and repertoire is thanks to their enthusiasm and curiosity in collaborating with a broad range of artists including some of the most recognisable names in classical music. Recent accolades include five star BBC Music Magazine reviews for 2023 Mark-Anthony Turnage: Winter’s Edge, 2024 Joseph Phibbs: Quartets, Ned Rorem: Choral Works with St. Martin’s Voices, and 2026 Rob Laidlow’s ‘Gravity‘, a Presto Music Award as one of the ‘Top 10 Recordings of the Year 2023’, and a nomination for ‘Recording of the Year’ with both Limelight and Gramophone for their 2022 collaborative disc with Nicky Spence and Julius Drake on the Hyperion label. This same album entitled ‘On Wenlock Edge’ was also singled out as one of the top 20 Ralph Vaughan Williams’ recordings of all time with Gramophone Magazine. Their follow up album, Fauré: La Bonne Chanson & Other Songs, was also a shortlisted finalist for the 2025 Gramophone Awards.
Contemporary music has been ever present in their repertoire and leaving a legacy to the quartet genre through commissions is one of the quartet’s central tenets. Major commissions and dedications have stemmed from Mark-Anthony Turnage, Emily Howard, Charlotte Harding, and Joseph Phibbs whilst they have premiered a mesmerising number of new works over the years beginning with Anna Meredith back in 2009. The Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Flagey Radio Hall Brussels, Wigmore Hall London, and the Aldeburgh Festival are some of the high profile occasions where new music has been presented and recordings of Turnage, Phibbs, and Gavin Higgins’ chamber music has also been extensively lauded by critics. After the UK premiere Julian Anderson’s Ice Quartet, the composer himself described them as ‘living treasures of chamber music.’ Charlotte Bray is writing a new work for them which will be premiered in 2028.
Historical research into quartet music that has been undiscovered or deserves to be better known has led to the premiere recordings of Irish composer Ina Boyle’s String Quartet in E Minor, her songs with quartet and Louise Farrenc’s epic Piano Quintet in C minor. They’ve also made a premiere recording of a work by Michael Tippett as well as performances and some recordings of lesser known quartet gems by Ralph Vaughan Williams, E.J. Moeran, Rachmaninov, Ireland, Haas, Ullmann, and Lucien Durosoir. Fonoforum Magazine (Germany) called their 2026 ‘Phantasy’ album ‘one of the discoveries of the year’ with similar sentiments of the album echoed in The Spectator (UK) describing it as ‘bracingly inventive.’
The quartet’s name is dedicated to Alfredo Piatti, a 19th Century virtuoso cellist who was a professor at the Royal Academy of Music (the alma mater of the founders of the quartet) and also a major exponent of chamber music and contemporary music of his time.
Recent highlights have included the quartet’s residency at Kings Place alongside performances at major festivals around the UK with acclaimed London performances at the Southbank Centre and Wigmore Hall. Upcoming events for the future seasons includes a return to Amsterdam Concertgebouw, tours of Ireland, Netherlands, Luxembourg and South America, and more album releases with Chandos Records.
