Echéa Quartet Wins Royal Over-Seas League Competition

After winning the String Ensemble Division of the competition’s 69th edition, the quartet will receive a cash prize of £10,000

The other group finalists in this year’s Strings Ensemble Section of the Royal Over-Seas League’s (ROSL) Annual Music Competition, involved the Brompton Quartet, Heathcliff Trio, and Hill Quartet.

As the winner, Echéa Quartet will go on to perform at the Gold Medal Final to be held on November 24, 2021. The quartet’s members comprise violinists Aliayta Foon-Dancoes and Rosa Hartley, violist Dave Shaw, and cellist Eliza Millett.

The competition jury comprised Ann Beilby, Stephen Upshaw, Gavin Henderson, and Geoff Parkin. 

“The Echéa Quartet performed an exceptional mini-recital of Schubert and Brahms, with a bold choice of some movements from Kurtag’s Officium Breve in memoriam Andreae Szervanszky sandwiched in the middle, which worked brilliantly,” noted Parkin, ROSL’s artistic director. 

“As previous ROSL finalists it is great to hear the quartet’s development and we are excited to see their career in chamber music continue to build.”

Formed in 2017 at London’s Royal Academy of Music, Echéa Quartet is a recipient of the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Albert and Eugenie Frost Chamber Music Prize and recently won prizes at the Philharmonie de Paris’ String Quartet Biennale and International Anton Rubinstein Competition.

The ensemble is currently Chamber Music Fellows at the Royal College of Music, artists for the Concordia and City Music Foundations, and Yeomen of the Worshipful Company of Musicians.

Mentored by John Myerscough, Simon Rowland-Jones and Mathieu Herzog, the group was chosen for Montreal’s McGill International String Quartet Academy, where they will be studying with members of the Alban Berg, Artemis, and Ebene Quartets.

From the generosity of the Harrison-Frank and City Music Foundations, the ensemble perform on a quartet of W.E. Hill & Sons instruments and bows.

“Over the moon to have won the [ROSL Arts] Chamber Music Competition last night!”  Echéa Quartet posted on Facebook. “Huge congratulations to all those involved!”

FRANZ SCHUBERT | STRING QUARTET NO. 14 "DEATH AND THE MAIDEN" | MVT 1 | ECHÉA QUARTET | 2021

The ROSL 70th Annual Music Competition for 2022 is now open for applications, for more information and to apply, click here.

Open to musicians aged 30 and under, The ROSL Arts Competition offers over £75,000 in awards to solo performers as well as chamber groups.