Danish String Quartet - About

For us it was first and foremost an incredible honour to be included as a part of the ‘BBT family.’ It is a pretty nice list of musicians and the friendliest organisation on the planet. On a more practical level, the grant enabled us to upgrade our gear: for many years, we have all essentially been using random bows of sub-par quality; bows that didn’t even come close to matching the level of our instruments. The award from BBT has helped us to replace them with much better bows. We are convinced that they have already had a huge effect on our sound, and they certainly make our concert life much easier.

The ever-popular Danish String Quartet (actually three quarters Danish, and a quarter Norwegian) continues to conquer the musical world with its powerful performances and wide repertoire – not just classical and contemporary, but also irresistible performances and recordings of traditional Danish folk music. The Boston Classical Review sums up its status neatly: “There are simply two types of string quartet: the Danish, and all the others.” In addition to its international touring, the Quartet hosts its own chamber music festival in Copenhagen each autumn, as well as its DSQ Academy, a music camp in the Danish countryside.

With its BBT Award, Danish String Quartet players were very practical. As they explain above, each player used a share of the award to contribute to the purchase of a new bow, an important and perhaps not often thought of facet in allowing string players to achieve the best sound.  Finding the right bow can sometimes take quite a while, each bow not only individual to each player but also to each instrument.

Danish String Quartet was supported with a BBT Award between 2016 and 2022.

For a current biography please visit kirshbaumassociates.com

Photographs by Caroline Bittencourt