The Isidore String Quartet, winner of last year’s Banff International String Quartet Competition, brings together four gifted American string players. Mark Steinberg of the Brentano Quartet has commented: ‘The Isidore’s music making struck me as something utterly sincere, imaginative and insightful.’

Their International Festival debut opens with Haydn’s poised C major quartet from his first, groundbreaking Op 20 set, one of the works that propelled the players to their Banff prize.

Next comes the Second String Quartet, ‘Awakening’, by the contemporary American composer Billy Childs. The piece was inspired by a traumatic incident when his wife fell seriously ill. It traces the couple’s journey through anxiety and pain to recovery and increased closeness.

After the interval the quartet turns to Felix Mendelssohn’s lyrical String Quartet Op 44 No 3, filled with the composer’s habitual high energy and soaring melodies.

Supported by Niall and Carol Lothian