Meet the string quartets that we are supporting in collaboration with Danish String Quartet for our chamber talent programme for 2025-2026! We are thrilled to welcome the Monbijou Quartet to our programme and to continue working with the Saphir Quartet.
Monbijou Quartet
The Monbijou Quartet has quickly gained a reputation as one of Scandinavia’s most promising young quartets since its founding in the fall of 2022. Shortly after their first performances, they won the Swedish chamber music competition Ung & Lovande 2023, and a tour of Sweden was planned and took place with over 30 concerts in 2024/25. They have also been finalists in the Szymanowski International Music Competition and won an award for the best performance of a contemporary piece. They are currently studying for a string quartet diploma at the Royal Danish Academy of Music with Tim Frederiksen.
Saphir Quartet
The Saphir Quartet, consisting of Amanda Noor Vatn, Philippe Jayer, Torje Rabu, and Iris Kalliovirta—all born in 2006—formed in 2018 while studying at Barratt-Due Institute of Music in Oslo. Winners of the junior string division at the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition and the Midgard Prize, they have performed at esteemed venues such as the Royal Palace of Norway, the National Theatre, Sentralen and Gamle Logen, and at the 17th May celebrations at the Norwegian Seaman’s Church in New York. In 2019, they gained international attention on Norway’s Got Talent, receiving the golden buzzer. Their repertoire spans composers from Grieg to Sulkhan Tsintsadze, guided by their teacher Kari Ravnan of the Oslo Philharmonic.