The Dominant Quartet ranks one of the foremost Russian string ensembles, and with good reason: it is the epitome of the world-famous Russian quartet school. Founded close to 15 years ago, the Dominant Quartet was the brainchild of cellist Valentin Berlinsky, a coryphaeus of Russian music, who had been a member of the legendary Borodin Quartet.
Originating within the walls of the Moscow State Conservatoire and the Russian Academy of Music, The Dominant Quartet was formed by the then students and initially comprised violinist Do Fyong Nji, violinist Ekaterina Pogodina, violist Anna Sazonkina and cellist Tatiana Egorova.

In 1996, soon after its formation, the Quartet won First Prize at the Fourth Shostakovich International String Quartet Competition in St. Petersburg. The same year the Quartet members began to serve as resident performing artists at the Moscow State Philharmonic. In 1997, the Dominant Quartet was awarded the prestigious Prokofiev Grant from the Rostropovich Foundation, and in 2001, it was further honored with a prize at the International String Quartet Competition in Bordeaux, France, as well as with an award from the French Ministry of Culture.

The ensemble distinguished itself debuting at numerous international festivals, such as Mlada Praga (1997), the Fourth Sakharov International Festival in Nizhniy Novgorod (2000), the 2001 Cork International Chamber Music Festival (Ireland), the 2002 Kuhmo International Chamber Music Festival (Finland), December Nights (Moscow, 2004), and Music at the Castle (Taunton, UK, 2004), and went on to perform at these and many other prestigious festivals held all over the world.

The Dominant Quartet has been touring extensively throughout Russia, Spain, Italy, Germany, Sweden, Croatia, Finland, with landmark performances in Paris, Amsterdam (Concertgebouw), Tokyo (Suntory Hall), London (Wigmore Hall), and Washington, DC (Library of Congress).

The Dominant Quartet has released several unique recordings, including world premieres: Mechislav Weinberg´s
Op. 9 quartet (OLYMPIA, 2001), Tchaikovsky´s Detskiy Albom (Art Classics, 2004), as well as collaborations with remarkable artists -Yuriy Bashmet and Valentin Berlinsky. In addition to these recordings, the Quartet released a disk of Pavel Markelov´s compositions dedicated to the Quartet: Sisyphean Prose, a quintet for string quartet and clarinet, and Parthenon, a chamber symphony for string quartet.

To celebrate their 15th anniversary in 2010, the Dominant Quartet has done a series of concerts in Spain, Great Britain, and Croatia.

In the summer 2011 the Dominant Quartet made series concerts with premieres of outstanding Croatian composers Milo Cipra, Davorin Kempf, Kresimir Seletkovic, Sara Glojnaric on the tour in countries of Balkan region. In the same time the group recorded the new CD in Zagreb. The recording includes wonderful contemporary Croatian music.

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