Mathilde Borsarello Herrmann, violin
Bleuenn Le maitre, violin
Cecile Grassi, viola
Guillaume Martigné, cello
Psophos ….. is the Greek word for breath, and refers to sound matter, noise in its original state, the origin of sound.
2020 marks a new beginning for the Psophos Quartet, with the arrival of Mathilde Borsarello Herrmann and the launch of a range of projects driven by a shared desire to share, transmit and give body and soul to music.
Founded in 1997 at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Lyon, the quartet went on to perfect its skills with the Quatuor Ysaÿe and to expand its knowledge under the aegis of Walter Levin in Basel. Master classes with the great Amadeus, Berg, LaSalle and Hagen quartets, as part of Proquartet, forged the Psophos’ passionate commitment.
The Quartet went on to win numerous international prizes, including Osaka, Florence and London, and was awarded 1st Prize at the Bordeaux International String Quartet Competition in 2001. It was also the first French quartet to be selected by the BBC’s prestigious New Generation Artist programme in London, and was nominated for a Victoires de la Musique award in 2005. They were then invited to perform in prestigious venues such as the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Wigmore Hall in London and the Mozarteum in Salzburg. Les folles journées (Nantes, Tokyo, Lisbon, Warsaw), the Prom’s and many other festivals mark out his career and give him the opportunity to play with great musicians such as Bertrand Chamayou, Juliana Steinbach, Renaud and Gautier Capuçon, Nemanja Radulovic… his curiosity has led the Psophos Quartet to work with new artists, actors and directors. For three years, the Psophos Quartet was in residence at the Athénée Théâtre Louis Jouvet in Paris, where it produced its own series of chamber music concerts. It has also performed at the Théâtre National de Chaillot and the Opéra de Lyon, notably alongside choreographer and dancer Philippe Decouflé. In collaboration with Christophe Malavoy, they put on the show ‘Qui se souviendra’, which toured Paris and France for a year. The quartet has made numerous recordings, all of which have won critical acclaim.
A wonderful encounter with Jean-Marie Machado and Dave Liebman led them to jazz with ‘Painting notes in the air’, on which they recorded the album Media Luz. Recent recordings include the first quartets by Brahms and Dohnanyi, as well as ‘Chansons perpétuelles’, the fruit of a magnificent collaboration with the Canadian contralto Marie-Nicole Lemieux. The variety of the Psophos Quartet’s discography is indicative of the desire of its members to be constantly nourished by different musical worlds and to be at the crossroads of their desires. Their latest album, ‘Constellations’, a tribute to French composers, is a showcase of enchanting sounds: Ravel, Debussy, Dutilleux.
‘The journey of these three islands of independence is exhilarating under the bows of the Psophos Quartet. Ravel’s hymn-like force reaches us in a performance of anthology, carried by the lightness and depth of a breath that never runs out. Debussy’s authoritative grandeur imposes itself with tact. As for Dutilleux, he benefits from a glow-worm activity that pushes the notion of play to the point of intoxication’. – Pierre Gervasoni for Le Monde
The Psophos Quartet attaches great importance to the influence that music can have if it is shared by all. After years of supporting the Rive association in the fight against AIDS by giving charity concerts in the Indian Ocean, the Psophos Quartet has also joined forces with the Paris Mozart Orchestra to play in suburban schools and prisons throughout the year.
In 2019, the Quartet has teamed up with Artie’s to travel to Cambodia to meet the children of the charity ‘Pour un sourire d’enfant’ and introduce them to classical music…
‘Because music is here, on earth, it exists beside us like a friend, and the fullness of its evidence gives us the courage to live, to write, to continue’. – Vladimir Jankélévitch
