Daniel de Borah is recognised as one of Australia’s foremost musicians, consistently praised for the grace, finesse and imaginative intelligence of his performances. His wide-ranging performance schedule finds him equally at home as concerto soloist, recitalist and chamber musician. Since his prize-winning appearances at the 2004 Sydney International Piano Competition, Daniel has given recitals on four continents and toured extensively throughout the United Kingdom and Australia. As a concerto soloist he has appeared with the English Chamber Orchestra, London Mozart Players, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Australian Chamber Orchestra and the Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Auckland Symphony Orchestras. An avid chamber musician, he has enjoyed fruitful collaborations with many leading soloists including Vadim Gluzman, Baiba Skride, Li-Wei Qin, Umberto Clerici, Nicolas Altstaedt, Roderick Williams, Steve Davislim and Andrew Goodwin. Daniel studied at the Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest, the St. Petersburg State Conservatory and the Royal Academy of Music, London. He now lives in Brisbane where he serves as Head of Chamber Music at the Queensland Conservatorium, Griffith University.

Mr. Hevia started his violin studies under the guidance of his father, Prof. J. Ramón Hevia and with Prof. Yuri Nasushkin at Oviedo’s Conservatorio Superior de Música. He then followed Posgraduate studies with Prof. Keiko Wataya at Conservatorium van Amsterdam, where he was awarded his degree Cum Laude. His development as a musician has been shaped and strongly influenced by the tutelage of eminent pedagogues such as Rainer Schmidt (Hagen Quartet), Hatto Beyerle (Alban Berg Quartet) and Walter Levin (LaSalle Quartet) in studies pursued at Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofía (Madrid), European Chamber Music Academy and the Musikhochschule Basel.

His main concert activity is as a violinist of Cuarteto Quiroga, renowned for its bold and innovative performances, performing in the most prestigious halls of the international scene (Wigmore Hall London, Lincoln Center New York, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, National Auditorium, Palau de la Música Catalana, Philarmonie Berlin, Mozarteum Salzburg, National Gallery Washington D.C.), Amsterdam String Quartet Biennale, Da Camera Los Angeles, Stadtcasino Basel, etc.), sharing music with such celebrated artists as Valentin Erben, Veronika Hagen, Martha Argerich, Javier Perianes, Jörg Widmann, Antje Weithaas, Richard Lester, David Kadouch, etc. Cuarteto Quiroga is a prizewinner of the most important string quartet competitions (Bordeaux, Paolo Borciani, Geneva, Beijing), and has received the Spanish National Music Award 2018 and the Spanish Radio Culture Prize (Ojo Crítico 2017). With his quartet, Mr. Hevia has had the honour of being artist-in-residence in charge of the Royal Collection of decorated Stradivarius at Madrid’s Royal Palace.

2012 saw the release of his recording as solo violin of Antonio Vivaldi’s Quattro Stagioni (The Four Seasons) together with Forma Antiqva, a CD that has been acclaimed by critics and audiences worldwide: ‘The best Four Seasons in history’ (Diverdi, Eduardo Torrico), ‘…the performance of The Four Seasons were never heard as that of the ensemble Forma Antiqva and soloist Aitor Hevia.’ (JPC Editorial, Norbert Richter).

Besides his intense chamber music activity, he has appeared as soloist with the Asturias Symphony Orchestra (OSPA), he has been concertmaster of the Spanish Youth Orchestra (JONDE), member of the European Union Youth Orchestra (EUYO), guest concertmaster of Orquesta Sinfónica del Principado de Asturias and Orquesta Sinfónica de Tenerife and member of the Da Camera orchestra, having the opportunity to work with conductors such as Carlo Maria Giulini, Sir Colin Davis, Bernard Haitink, Aarón Zapico, Jordi Savall and Pablo González among others.

His firm commitment to violin and chamber music teaching has led him to give masterclasses in courses, festivals, conservatories and universities of Spains, USA, Colombia, The Netherlands, Sweden, etc. He currently holds the String Quartet Chair at the Conservatory of Music of Aragon (CSMA), where he’s taught since 2008, violin teacher at the Orchestral Studies Academy at Barenboim-Said Foundation and teaches regularly violin and string quartet at the Llanes International Music Course.

He plays a Julia Maria Pasch violin, Vienna 2021.

Born in Ourense (Galicia), Cibrán Sierra studied violin in his homeland (Conservatorio Superior de Música in Vigo, Galicia – B.Mus.) to then continue his studies at the Amsterdam Conservatorium (Master Music), the Oberlin College, USA (Artist Diploma) and the Göteborg University of Sweden (Soloist Diploma) with teachers Deborah Hamburger, Milan Vitek, Per Enoksson and Keiko Wataya. His passion for chamber music led him to form in 2003 his Cuarteto Quiroga. Specialized string quartet studies in Madrid’s Reina Sofia School, Musikhochschule Basel and the European Chamber Music Academy with Rainer Schmidt (Hagen Quartet), Walter Levin (LaSalle Quartet) and Hatto Beyerle (Alban Berg Quartet), have profoundly influenced his musical personality.

His firm conviction of chamber music as a metaphor of an enlightened society which embodies essential democratic, ethical values such as courtesy, respect, mutual listening and diversity —as well as fundamental skills which are essential for the development of any musician— motivated him to pursue a committed teaching career, which started first at the University of Göteborg and then, for over a decade, at the chamber music chair of Zaragoza’s Conservatorio Superior de Música de Aragón, which has held until his recent appointment in 2020 as chamber music Professor at the Universtät Mozarteum Salzburg. He is also regularly invited to teach in several universities and higher academic institution of Sweden, Spain, The Netherlands, USA, France, etc. Since 2021 he is also Jury Chairman and artistic coordinator of Salzburg’s Mozart International Competition for String Quartet.

His keen interest in ensemble playing and his understanding that performance practice has to consider historically informed perspectives has led him to appear regularly as guest concertamaster or principal of several professional orchestras and period performance ensembles, such as Orchestre Revolutionnaire et Romantique, Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra-GSO, Finnish Baroque Orchestra, Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra, Real Filharmonia Galicia, Forma Antiqva, La Tempestad, Academia de las Luces, Oviedo Opera, etc. He collaborates also with Chamber Orchestra of Europe and has thus worked closely with conductors such as John Eliot Gardiner, Frans Brüggen, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Gustavo Dudamel, Lawrence Foster, Andrew Manze, Hannu Lintu, Aarón Zapico, James Ross, Sir Colin Davis or Jordi Savall, among others.

As a violinist he has been awarded several prizes, such as the Guido Vecchi Prize (Göteborg, 2003), 1st Prize at Voldrich Competition (Sweden), Bärenreiter Prize (Jenuesses Musicales Competition, Spain 2000), has appeared as soloist with several sympony orchestras (Göteborg SO, Real Filharmonía Galicia, Spanish Radio SO, Bilbao SO, Castilla&León SO, etc.), and is a keen recitalist, performing in Spain, Sweden, Denmark, Czech Republic, Netherlands, USA, etc. But indeed, the biggest pleasure of his performing career is playing with his string quartet and joining wonderful partners such as Martha Argerich, Veronika Hagen, Jörg Widmann, Valentin Erben, Javier Perianes, Antje Weithaas, Jonathan Brown, Eric Hoeprich, David Kadouch and members of the Alban Berg, Hagen, Meta4, Casals, Jerusalem and Doric string quartets.

Cuarteto Quiroga, which carries the legacy of the great Galician violinist Manuel Quiroga, has been awarded top prizes at the most important international competitions for string quartet (Bordeaux, Geneva, Paolo Borciani, Beijing, Paris) as well as with the Spanish National Music Prize 2018, the Spanish Radio Culture Prize 2007 and the Gold Medal of the Palau in Barcelona. Cibrán enjoys touring worldwide with his Cuarteto Quiroga, performing at the most important venues and festivals of the international scene (Wigmore Hall London, Philharmonie & Konzerthaus Berlin, Frick Collection & Lincoln Center New York, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Doelen Rotterdam, Auditorio Nacional de Madrid, Beijing National Concert Hall, Pierre Boulez Saal, Laieszehalle Hamburg, etc.). They have released seven CD titles for Cobra and Harmonia Mundi which have won the unanimous applause from critics and audiences. The ensemble is considered one of the most dynamic, bold and important quartets of Europe’s newest generation, described as ‘exquisite, precise, perfectly balanced’ by The New York Times and ‘admirable, with an unblemished technique’, by The Strad.

As part of his firm commitment as a citizen, he participates often in outreach programs and was founder and artistic director of the Chamber Music Season Sen Batuta held in his Galician hometown of Ourense between 2007 and 2013. An active researcher, he has published several articles and essays about chamber music, programming, and music education, in several music magazines and newspapers (The Strad, El Pais, El Cultural, Scherzo, RMC, Ctxt, etc.) and is the author of the book El Cuarteto de Cuerda: Laboratorio para una sociedad ilustrada (The String Quartet, Laboratory for an Enlightened Society) edited in 2014 by Alianza Editorial, one of the leading publishing houses in the Spanish speaking world.

He plays the extraordinary Nicola Amati Arnold Rosé violin (Cremona, 1682), thanks to the generous loan of Paola Modiano’s heirs.

Born in Valencia, Josep Puchades studied in Real Conservatorio Superior de Música de Madrid, Yale University and Mozarteum Salzburg. Main teachers include Luis Llácer, Jesse Levine, Tokyo String Quartet and Thomas Riebl.

Passionate chamber musician he is currently the violist of Cuarteto Quiroga, prizewinner of several of the most prestigious international competitions for String Quartet (Bordeaux, Geneva, Paolo Borciani, Beijing, Paris), Premio Nacional de Música 2018, the Spanish Radio Culture Prize (Ojo Crítico 2007) and the Gold Medal of the Palau in Barcelona. Cuarteto Quiroga tours regularly worldwide, performing at the most important venues and festivals of the international scene.

Before joining Cuarteto Quiroga he was an active orchestra musician as a member of Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Luzern Festival Orchestra and co-principal viola in Palau de les Arts orchestra in Valencia under the leadership of Lorin Maazel and Zubin Mehta. He has also been invited to serve as guest principal violist in orchestras like Camerata Salzburg, Orchestre d’Auvergne, Camerata Bern, Orquesta Nacional de España, Orquesta sinfónica de Radio Televisión Española and Orchestra Sinfónica della RAI, and has worked with conductors like Claudio Abbado, Seiji Ozawa, Valery Gergiev, J.E Gardiner, Andris Nelsons, Pierre Boulez and Daniel Harding.

A very committed pedagogue, he has taught viola and chamber music in the Real Conservatorio de Música de Madrid and Conservatorio Superior de Música de Aragón and is currently viola professor In Musikene (San Sebastian).

As a violist he has been awarded several prizes, such as 3rd Prize in the II internacional Viola Competition in Viena and 1st prize in the Woolsey hall Competition, New Haven (USA), and played as soloist with Orquesta de Cámara Reina Sofía, Viena Radio Orchestra, Yale Philharmonia and Jove Orquesta de la Comunitat Valenciana.

He has given recitals in Europe, USA and has played chamber music with artists like Martha Argerich, Veronika Hagen, Julian Rachlin, Valentin Erben, Gary Hoffman, Antje Weithass, Jerusalem String Quartet, Doric String Quartet and Quatour Voce.

Born in Madrid, Helena Poggio studied at the Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofía under the direction of Frans Helmerson. She later continued her studies in the USA, at Indiana University (Artist Diploma) and at the Juilliard School in New York (Master of Music). She has attended master classes with N.Shakovskaya, D. Geringas, B. Greenhouse, P. Müller and B. Pergamenschikov among others.

Helena has always been passionate about chamber music and strongly believes it is one of the best ways to learn, develop and share music with colleagues, students and audiences. Her chamber music teachers R. Schmidt, W. Levin and H. Beyerle have profoundly influenced and shaped her way of understanding music.

As a member of the Cuarteto Quiroga, she has received her chamber music education at the Instituto Internacional de Música de Cámara de Madrid, the Musikhochschule in Basel and the European Chamber Music Academy and has won several prizes in the most prestigious international competitions for String Quartet (Bordeaux, Geneva, Borciani, Beijing, Paris) as well as Gold medal at Barcelona’s Palau de la Musica, the Ojo Crítico Spanish Radio Culture Prize (2007) and the Spanish National Music Prize (2018).

The Cuarteto Quiroga tours regularly across the most relevant halls in Europe and the USA; London Wigmore Hall, Lincoln Center and Frick Collection New York, Berlin Konzerthaus, Boulez Saal, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Madrid’s Auditorio Nacional, Philharmonie Berlín, Washington National Library, etc, and has released seven CD titles (Cobra Records, Harmonia Mundi) with unanimous applause from critics and audiences. It is considered one of the most dynamic, bold and important quartets of Europe’s newest generation and has shared the stage with musicians such as Martha Argerich, Veronika Hagen, Jörg Widmann, Valentin Erben, Javier Perianes and Antje Weithaas, among others.

Helena has been awarded prizes at various national and international competitions including First Prize at the Spanish National Contest Ciudad de Xativa, First Prize and Audience Prize at the International Julio Cardona Competition (Portugal) and First Prize at the Latin American Music Center Competition at Indiana University, USA. She has appeared as a soloist with the Orquesta Ciudad de Granada, Orquesta Sinfónica Ciudad de Gijón and she has been recorded by the Spanish National Radio. As an orchestra member she has worked with conductors such as J.Levine, K.Masur, L.Maazel, P.Järvi, Z.Metha and Sir Colin Davis in various orchestras.

Fulbright scholar, Helena enjoys teaching chamber music as much as performing with the Cuarteto Quiroga. After more than a decade teaching at the Conservatorio Superior de Aragon, she is currently a professor at the Real Conservatorio Superior de Música de Madrid and also teaches at the International Summer Course of Llanes (Asturias). She has been a jury member at the Bordeaux International String Quartet Competition, the Piero Farulli International Young String Quartet Competition, the Spanish Juventudes Musicales Contest and soon she will form part of the jury at the next Bad-Tölz International String Quartet Competition in Germany.