Cuarteto Casals
Since its 1997 founding at the Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofía under Professor
Antonello Farulli, Cuarteto Casals has quickly become recognized as one of Europe's most
distinguished string quartets. This Spanish ensemble has garnered extensive critical
acclaim and has numerous prizes at many international competitions, including first prizes
at the 2000 London International String Quartet Competition and the 2002 International
Johannes Brahms Competition in Hamburg. The ensemble was honored in 2005 with the City of
Barcelona prize; in 2006 with the National Music Award, the highest distinction in Spain
for musicians; and in 2008 with the prestigious Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award.
Upcoming and recent activities include performances at Wigmore Hall and Barbican Centre
(London), Concertgebouw (Amsterdam), Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall (New York), Berliner
Philharmonie and Konzerthaus Berlin (Berlin), Tonhalle (Zurich), Library of Congress
(Washington, DC), Konzerthaus and Musikverein (Vienna), Kölner Philharmonie (Cologne), and
Théâtre du Châtelet (Paris). Cuarteto Casals has toured throughout Europe, the US, South
America, Russia, and Japan; and has performed at the Salzburg, Lucerne, Santa Fe, West
Cork, City of London, Schleswig-Holstein, and Kuhmo music festivals. As
ensemble-in-residence at L'Auditori in Barcelona, Cuarteto Casals performs an annual series
of concerts that has been met with tremendous critical approbation and audience support.
Additionally, the quartet has accompanied the King and Queen of Spain on official state
visits; the members have also performed at the Palacio Real de Madrid, playing on the Royal
Family's priceless collection of Stradivarius instruments.
Cuarteto Casals records exclusively for Harmonia Mundi. The quartet has worked with
important European composers, such as Jordi Cervelló, David del Puerto, and Jesús Rueda of
Spain; as well as with James MacMillan, György Kurtág, and Christian Lauba. The quartet has
been heard frequently on the radio and in live concert broadcasts from the Radio Nacional
de España, Radio France, Deutschlandradio, WDR, NDR, SWR, RAI, NPR, and the BBC; it has
also been broadcast on television programs throughout Spain and Germany.
Cuarteto Casals is currently in residence at the leading Spanish conservatory in
Barcelona, and has been profoundly influenced by intensive studies with professors Walter
Levin and Rainer Schmidt, as well as by graduate work in Cologne under the Alban Berg
Quartet.
Cibrán Sierra Vázquez
Cibrán Sierra Vázquez studied at the Conservatorio Superior de Música de Vigo in Spain,
Musikhögskolan Göteborgs in Sweden, Conservatorium van Amsterdam in the Netherlands, and
Oberlin Conservatory of Music in the US. His main violin professors are Keiko Wataya, Per
Enoksson, and Milan Vitek; he has also received chamber music instruction from Rainer
Schmidt, Walter Levin, and Hatto Beyerle.
Mr. Vázquez is a founding member of the Cuarteto Quiroga, currently in residence at the
Museo Cerralbo in Madrid. The string quartet performs extensively in the main halls of
Europe and South America, including Wigmore Hall, Berliner Philharmonie, and Auditorio
Nacional de Música. Its newest recording, Statements, was released earlier this
year under Cobra Records.
Mr. Vázquez has performed extensively in recitals and as soloist with orchestras in Spain,
Sweden, Netherlands, Denmark, Czech Republic, Portugal, Germany, France, and the US. During
the 2008-2009 season, he appeared regularly as guest assistant concertmaster with the
Göteborgs Symfoniker under principal conductor Gustavo Dudamel. He has also performed in
orchestras as concertmaster under conductors Sir Colin Davis, Frans Brüggen, Jordi Savall,
Paul Polivnick, Lawrence Foster, and Vladimir Ashkenazy.
Currently, Mr. Vázquez is a member of the violin and chamber music faculty at Llanes
International Summer Academy in Asturias and at the Conservatory of Music in Zaragoza. He
is the founder and artistic director of Sen Batuta, a chamber music concert series created
in 2008 in his Galician hometown of Ourense.