Quatuor Molinari

Quartet in residence at the Conservatory of Music of Montreal

Olga Ranzenhofer, violin

Antoine Bareil, violin

Cynthia Blanchon, viola

Pierre-Alain Bouvrette, cello

Internationally acclaimed by the public and the critics since its foundation in 1997, the Molinari Quartet has given itself the mandate to perform works from the 20^th and 21^st centuries repertoire for string quartet, to commission new works and to initiate discussions between musicians, artists and the public.

Recipient of twenty-eight Opus Prizes awarded by the Quebec Music Council to underline musical excellence on the Quebec concert stage, the Molinari Quartet has been described by the critics as an "essential" and "prodigious" ensemble, even "Canada's answer to the Kronos or Arditti Quartet". The Molinari Quartet has established itself as Canada's leading string quartet.

In addition to many Canadian works, including the 13 quartets by R. Murray Schafer, the Molinari Quartet's repertoire includes among others, quartets by Bartók, Berg, Berio, Britten, Debussy, Dutilleux, Glass, Górecki, Gubaidulina, Janaček, Kurtág, Ligeti, Lutoslawski, Martinu, Penderecki, Proko­fiev, Ravel, Rihm, Scelsi, Schnittke, Shostakovich, Webern and Zorn.

The Molinari Quartet was heard twice as soloist with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra under Charles Dutoit and in April 2018, premiered the Concerto for string quartet and orchestra by Samy Moussa with the Orchestre Métropolitain of Montréal under the direction of Nicholas Carter.

The Quartet has been invited to perform in numerous concert series and festivals throughout Canada, Europe and Asia among them IJsbreker (Amsterdam), Festival Présences (Radio-France, Paris), Festival Octobre en Normandie (France), festival Les détours de Babel (Grenoble, France), IX^e Festival International de musique contemporaine Musica Nueva (Mexico), BUNT after BUNT (Belgrade, Serbia), Musik21 Niedersachsen (Hannover, Germany), Brand-New Music of Katowice (Poland), Akademia Muzyczna Karola Szymanowsky (Poland), Festival Vancouver, Vancouver New Music, Music on Main (Vancouver, Canada), Musiques au présent (Québec), Banff Centre, Music Toronto, New Music Concerts (Toronto), Toronto Summer Music Festival and Academy, Centre national des Arts d’Ottawa, Montréal/Nouvelles musiques, MusiMars, Arte Musica (Montréal), Festival du Domaine Forget, Festival international de Lanaudière, Festival international de jazz de Montréal, festival GroundSwell de Winnipeg, New Works Calgary, Orford Festival, Festival International chamber Music Festival of Ottawa, etc.

Its recordings on the ATMA Classique label have received international critical acclaim including two Editors’ Choices by Gramophone magazine and rave revues from, among others, The Strad, Fanfare, Diapason, etc. Its recording of the complete Kurtág quartets has received a Diapason d’Or in December 2016 and the prestigious German Echo Klassik award for 20^th and 21^st century chamber music in July 2017. Its latest release, the complete quartets by Luciano Berio, received the Diapason d’or in the October issue of the French classical music magazine Diapason as well as the Abbiati Recording Prize 2025 from the National Association of music critics of Italy.

Launched in October 2001, the Molinari Quartet International Competition for Composition has had an enormous success. Over its nine editions it has received over 1000 new quartet scores from 75 countries.

Molinari Quartet : www.quatuormolinari.qc.ca

Press quotes              

More vibrant and warm than the Arditti Quartet (DG), the Molinari Quartet impresses with its wide range of colours, its fervent interpretation, and the great vitality it brings to this extraordinary chamber music exploration. (Berio quartet cycle on CD)

Anne Ibos-Augé, Diapason, octobre 2025

The expressive breath of Berio’s music is beautifully captured in these sumptuous performances.

Paul da Gama, April 23, 2025, The WholeNote

The miraculously lucid performance of Notturno is the highlight of this fascinating disc

Paul da Gama, April 23, 2025, The WholeNote

So contrasted a sequence is unified by the conviction of its interpreters, and Quatuor Molinari are no less admirable here than elsewhere in their diverse discography. (Berio’s quartet cycle on CD)

Richard Whitehouse, Gramophone July 2025

Fine, fiercely committed performances (Scelsi complete String Quartets album)

Andrew Clements The Guardian, August 16, 2024

The Canadian ensemble, founded in 1997, outclasses the best rival versions (Kronos, Royal String Quartet, Tippett). (Górecki quartet cycle on CD)

Patrick Szersnovicz, Diapason, October 2020

«The Molinaris sculpt the relief of the music with great refinement »

Patrick Szersnovicz, Diapason, octobre 2020