Leoš Čepický (violin), Jan Schulmeister (violin), Jakub Čepický (viola), Michal Kaňka (cello)

The Wihan Quartet of the Czech Republic, who celebrated their 40th anniversary in 2025, have for a long time been recognised as one of Eastern Europe’s finest string quartets.  We are delighted that they are including Leominster in their UK tour in April 2027.  Laureates of many leading international competitions in the late 1980s and early 1990s, they went on to tour extensively, including appearances at major festivals in Europe and the Far East and several tours to the USA, Japan, Australia and New Zealand.  They are among the foremost exponents of the string quartet repertoire of the Classical and Romantic periods as well as of contemporary works and have gained an exceptional reputation for their interpretations of the music of their homeland, which is central to their programme in this concert.
See www.wihanquartet.co.uk

The concert opens with the one work not of Czech origin, a contemporary 15-minute work by Derek Smith, based on themes by J S Bach.  This will be followed by Smetana’s First Quartet, one of the greatest chamber works to emerge from the Czech Republic, an utterly compelling musical autobiography which graphically represents various elements in the composer’s life: the adventures of youth; dance (a polka); a moving love-song to Smetana’s wife; and the onset of deafness.  The second half opens with two deeply lyrical Waltzes by Dvořák and ends with the same composer’s famous ‘American’ Quartet, composed in the USA, with clear allusions both to the American North and to the landscape of his native Bohemia.

Programme:

Derek Smith                            Bachoralia
Smetana                                 String Quartet No 1 in E minor ‘From My Life’
Dvořák                                    Two Waltzes Op 54
Dvořák                                    String Quartet No 12 in F major Op 96 ‘American’

Tickets £20 (students in full-time education and carers free) from 

Leominster TIC on 01568 616460 and The Courtyard, Hereford on 01432 340555 and online at www.courtyard.org.uk     

Concert promoted by Espressivo and supported by The Gemma Classical Music Trust