Kostas Tumosa, violin
Bernardas Petrauskas, violin
Karolis Rudokas, viola
Rokas Vaitkevičius, cello
Here are four charismatic personalities from Vilnius, Lithuania, who put their heart and soul into every performance to make it extraordinary. Quality and perfection are very important, but they are not risk-averse either, and never play it too safe. Sometimes it’s even a shocking and unexpected experience that makes the performance unforgettable and never boring.
Metis was an ancient Greek mythological figure, an Oceanid of the second generation of Titans, who was the wife of Zeus and mother of Athena. She was known for her cunning, wisdom and talent.
The Mettis Quartet has won several prizes, including 2nd prize at the 8th Bordeaux International String Quartet Competition, with a special prize for the best performance of Durosoir’s string quartet, and victory at the IXth V.E. Rimbotti International Competition in Italy.
The Quartet was founded in 2012 in Vilnius, Lithuania with the idea of becoming a good concert ensemble. They studied at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre, with the European Chamber Music Academy (ECMA). They were greatly influenced by Hatto Beyerle and Johannes Meissl.
Mettis released its CD with quartets by Beethoven and Shostakovich in 2015.
At the end of 2019, Mettis released its first international label CD with the French label LIGIA devoted to Shostakovich and the Weinberg piano quintets with Mūza Rubackytė.
The Mettis Quartet has already performed in such major venues as the Wigmore Hall, Berlin Konzerthaus, Laeiszhalle (Hamburg), Gulbenkian (Lisbon), as well as festivals such as Montpellier Radio France, Luberon, Aix-en-Provence and many others. They have performed in many European countries, Canada, China, Israel, Panama and the United States.
The Mettis Quartet collaborates with many different artists: instrumentalists, quartets, choirs and sometimes even tries their hand at other genres. In 2018 they played at the World Music Festival in Panama with Hernan Romero (USA) and Kęstutis Vaiginis (saxophone). In 2019 Mettis with M.. Vaiginis launched a jazz project and travelled to China to play at the Beijing and Changchun jazz festivals. This project is being developed in 2020 and will be presented to Lithuanian audiences for the first time in Vilnius’ St Catherine’s Church on 7 April.
