The Ardeton
String Quartet News
The Bristol and Bath String Quartet
September 2007 - Ardeton String Quartet entertain the Bristol 10k - Read more...
September 2007 - See the Ardeton String Quartet at the Bristol 10k - Read more...
July 2007 - Ardeton Ensemble tour to Norway - Read more...
June 2007 - Ardeton Quartet chosen to by SkyArts - Read more...
June 2007 Ardeton Ensemble perform at Oakham Castle - Read more...
April 2007 - Ardeton Ensemble to perform in Norway - Read more...
April 2007 - Nick Park at Paradigm Norton - Read more...
November 2006 - Another year, another Website design - Read more...
September 2006 - New Photoshoot, demos - Read more...
August 2006 - The Quartet is moving! - Read more...
February 2006 - New Violists bring new energy to the quartet - Read more...
December 2005 - Ardeton Quartet website receives facelift - Read more...
October 2005 - Ardeton String Quartet play for Lost Prophets wedding - Read more...
September 2005 - Quartet booked for first Humanist Wedding - Read more...
Sunday July 2005 - Ardeton Quartet chosen to entertain 1000 at Wales Remembers -Read more...
September 2007 - Ardeton String Quartet entertain the Bristol 10k
On September 30th, the Ardeton String Quartet undertook one of their more unusual requests yet - to play at the top of the Ashton Court Estate in Bristol and entertain runners taking part in a 10km race.
The race was in aid of Cancer Research UK, and the quartet performed at the half-way point in a specially erected marquee. The course was such that the runners passed us twice during the race, and judging by the reaction of those taking part, the runners were as happy to see us play as we were to be there. Many applauded, cheered or took photos as they raced passed us - no one taking part would have been expecting to see a string quartet in a field on a Sunday morning!
September 2007 - Come see the Quartet at the Bristol 10k
The Ardeton String Quartet are delighted to be entertaining 2,500 runners at Ashton Court on Sunday September 30th. The Quartet will be playing in a marquee at the half-way and finishing points of the 10k race for Cancer Research.
The event starts at 11am with 2,500 runners setting off across the estate, and the quartet will be playing until approx. 1pm. Come along and support the runners and be entertained with some Sunday morning classics whilst you wait!
Ardeton Ensemble tour to Norway - July 2007
July proved to be a busy month for the quartet, luckily with a chance to get away from it all at the end! The Ardeton String Quartet's sister group, The Ardeton Ensemble, were invited to travel to Norway to play at the Risor Church Music Festival, and at Saugherad Church, both in the South West of Norway.
The programme was Dvorak's American Quartet, Schubert's Quartetsatz and the Schumann Piano Quintet. The group were joined by Jo Coldicott for the piano quintet in warmly recieved an well-attended concerts.
The cello seemed to get some fame of its own too, delaying the plane on the return journey as two burly Norwegians set about securing it to the plane's seats!
Ardeton String Quartet chosen by SkyArts - June 2007 (Dury Loveridge)
The Ardeton
String Quartet were chosen to perform alongside English National Ballet by
SkyArts this month. Specially themed sets to compliment the performances
by members of English National Ballet were prepared for a press party at
the Guardian Hay-on-Wye Literary festival. The party was also attended by
performers a
nd artists
at the event, which included Daragh O'Brien, Rory McGrath, Arthur Smith,
Major Dick Strawbridge, Billy Bragg, A A Gill, Mariella Frostrup and Sean
Locke.
A highly sucessful evening, the quartet performed on a rostrum in the centre of the party, with guests afforded a 360 degree view of the quartet. The quartet and dancers were also invited to stay and complete an 'encore' set before the evening continued into the morning with star DJ's taking their turn.
Ardeton Ensemble perform at Oakham Castle - June 2007 (Dury Loveridge)
The Ardeton Ensemble, the sister group of the Ardeton String Quartet performed at Oakham Castle as part of the Oakham Festival. We performed to a packed audience on a rainy Rutland evening, performing with Birmingham-based clarinetist Robert Bell to perform the Weber Clarinet Quintet after performing the Dvorak American.
This tranquil and historic setting included an informal talk about each work from both myself and Rob, with some fascinating insights and interpretations into the two works before the performances in this intimate setting.
Ardeton Ensemble to tour Norway - April 2007 (Dury Loveridge)
The Ardeton Ensemble was established as a sister-group to the Ardeton Quartet in 2003. The group presents recital series each year in its base form as a string quartet and also invites other soloists to form larger chamber music groups.
This year the group has been invited to travel to Norway to perform recitals in the artistic setting of Risor, with a second performance in Telemark. The group will be performing with UK pianist Jo Collicott, playing the Schubert Piano Quintet and the Dvorak American.
Further information can be found at www.ardetonensemble.com
Nick Park at Paradigm Norton - April 2007 (Dury Loveridge)
It was the Ardeton String Quartet's pleasure to provide the musical entertainment for the opening of the new offices of Paradigm Norton. This internationally successful financial institution recently moved from Clifton to new offices near the M5. The evening was a reception for clients and business partners, and it was arranged for Nick Park (a client of the company), to entertain guests with pictures of everybody's favourites Wallace & Grommit!
Another year, another website design - November 2006 (Dury Loveridge)
It has become an annual event for the quartet - the launch of the new-look website, and 2006 is no exception. It's normally an Autumnal thing - the Summer wedding rush over, there are often a few days for me (Dury) to hibernate and come up with a new look for the quartet website. As we celebrate 5 years of business (and around 300 weddings), and to coincide with the quartet moving from Cardiff to Bristol, it's been a tough task to beat.
Thankfully my task has been made easier by the fantastic work of our award-winning photographer friends Bob & Fran, who run Abbey House Studios in Tintern - with some fantastic photographs to brighten everything up. With one of the largest and most comprehensive quartet websites around, there's a lot to look after. It's all still here for you to find, and hopefully you'll find it helpful. However, hopefully the redesign will also make it a more visually pleasing experience too!
Hopefully the redesign will make 2007 the biggest year yet for the quartet!
New Photoshoot - September 2006 (Dury Loveridge)
The Welsh weather can be a little unpredictable at times, but we found ourselves enjoying the sunshine as we had our pictures taken in Tintern Abbey. Amongst the visitors and tourists, we stood out dressed in black, holding our instruments in the historic ruins. One lady started taking our pictures on her own camera in the background - maybe thinking she'd stumble across a group her grandchildren might recognise! The photoshoot was with our friends Bob and Fran who run Abbey House Studios in Tintern, who we often meet at weddings throughout Wales. The fruits of their labour should be seen on our new publicity material very soon.
As part of our
celebrations to mark 5 years of business, the quartet site and brochures
will be receiving a fresher, more modern look, as will our demos. We will
be recording our new demo later this month (the last one is now 3 years
old!), and are grateful to All Saints Church near Stockport for the use of
such a nice venue to record in. The new demo will be on the site as soon
as possible.
Update: The New demos are now available to listen to here.
The Quartet is Moving - But not too far away! - August 2006 (Dury Loveridge)
Sarah and Dury, the administrators of the Ardeton Quartet moved in late August. This means that all quartet correspondence must now be sent to 46 Couzens Close, Chipping Sodbury, Bristol BS37 6BT. This move heralds an exciting time for the quartet. Although we will continue to perform for events throughout Wales, the quartet will now have a unique position astride the river Severn, and the quartet will be expanding its area to include the M4 corridor through Wiltshire and Berkshire to London, as well as being able to perform more frequently in Bristol, Bath and the South West.
New Violists bring new energy to the quartet - February 2006 (Dury Loveridge)
We are pleased to introduce two new violists who will be working on projects with the Ardeton String Quartet this year. We bid farewell to Gareth Davies who has worked with the quartet for the last 2 years, but who is now focusing on his teaching career.
Rachel
Johnson is a very accomplished violist who has a long-standing history
with the quartet. As well as playing with the quartet, Rachel works with
myself and Sarah in the 'Ardeton Ensemble', who later this year will be
performing the Brahms Clarinet Quintet at festivals amongst other
things. Rachel's undergraduate and postgraduate studies took place at
the Birmingham Conservatoire, studying with International soloist Rivka
Golani.
We are also happy to welcome Jan Tewson to the quartet. Jan joined us
for the first time in February, and instantly blended with the group.
Having studied at Bristol University and the Royal Welsh College of
Music and Drama, Jan is an accomplished chamber musician and is in high
demand with chamber groups across the South West.
2006 looks to be an exciting time for the Ardeton String Quartet. These new members will allow us to tackle new things with greater diversity and we are all looking forward to the challenges that lay in store.
Ardeton Quartet website receives facelift - December 2005 (Dury Loveridge)
We are pleased to reveal the new-style Ardeton String Quartet website. The content of the site has remained fairly similar, but we wanted to improve the usability of our site. The navigation of the site has been simplified, and we have quickened the loading time of our pages. There are now many new photos, all of which are being shown at a higher resolution, and the faq's page now has a search function.
Perhaps most importantly we have changed our logo and colouring. The logo has had a long-overdue modernisation, and the colouring of quartet materials has changed from purple to green. We aimed for this to embody the modernity and vibrancy that we have in our performances.
Ardeton String Quartet plays for Lost Prophets Wedding - October 2005 (Dury Loveridge)
During October the Ardeton String Quartet were pleased to play for the wedding of Stuart Richardson. Stuart is the bassist of the Metal/Rock Band 'The Lost Prophets'. The arrangements and consultations took place via email as Stuart was recording in Los Angeles with his band over the Summer period. Stuart and his fiance Marissa were married in Cardiff Metropolitan Cathedral in a Catholic ceremony attended by band members, and friends of the band who are originally from Merthyr Tydfil.
Quartet booked for first Humanist Wedding - September 2005 (Dury Loveridge)
Having played for many church and civil ceremonies, we were happy to play for our first 'Humanist' wedding ceremony in September 2005. The wedding took place on a farm in Staffordshire, with the ceremony outside. We accompanied the bride with traditional wedding music as she walked from the farm house and down the 'aisle', and then for the registers and exit. It was a lovely ceremony in a very relaxed setting, and the quartet really enhanced the outdoor ceremony.
Ardeton Quartet chosen to play for 1000 at Wales Remembers - September 2005 (Dury Loveridge)
The
Ardeton String Quartet were asked to provide musical entertainment
during a dinner at the 2005 Wales
Remembers Event in Coopers Field in Cardiff. Part of the Nationwide
Rememberance events, veterans and families were treated to onstage
entertainment from Katherine Jenkins and Aled Jones attended by HRH the
Prince of Wales, a rememberance service and RAF fly-past. The only
challenge was that w
e
would be performing to around 1000 eating veterans.
Whilst the entertainment and service was happening on the main stage, we were having a sound-check with our engineer in the marquee that was being used for lunch. We were liaising with organisers from Cardiff City Council who were responsible for the smooth running of the day, and we played an hour-long set as lunch was served. Although it was one of the hottest days of the year, we performed a highly-polished set of Jazz and 40's and 50's music which was met with great enthusiasm.