Brandon Garbot joins the ensemble, replacing Philippe Villafranca
The Aviv Quartet has announced the appointment of Brandon Garbot as its new second violinist. Garbot succeeds Philippe Villafranca, who was a member of the Aviv Quartet for nearly a decade and remains close to the ensemble.
US-violinist Garbot joins violinist Anna Göckel, violist Noémie Bialobroda and cellist Daniel Mitnitsky. He is originally from Portland, OR and studied at the Curtis Institute of Music with Ida Kavafian and Arnold Steinhardt. He received his Master’s and Master Soloist Diploma with Rainer Schmidt at the Basel Music Academy, and received further instruction and influence from William Preucil, Itzhak Perlman and Miriam Fried.
As a life-long chamber musician, he has performed at festivals such as Verbier, Ravinia, Yellow Barn, Gstaad and Krzyzowa and has collaborated with musicians such as Shmuel Ashkenasi, Sol Gabetta, Viviane Hagner, Kim Kashkashian, Ivan Monighetti, and Helena Winkelman. He has also been a regular guest of ensembles such as Festival Strings Lucerne, Camerata Variabile, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, and Tonhalle- Orchester Zürich.
He was awarded the Music Prize of the Kiefer-Hablitzel and Göhner Foundation in Bern and was a scholarship holder of the Villa Musica Foundation of Mainz. Garbot is currently based in Basel, Switzerland.
’Looking back at our years together with Philippe, we acknowledge and cherish the beauty of the time we have had together, the music that we’ve made, and the friendship that goes well beyond the confines of the practice room or of the concert stage,’ the quartet said in a statement.
’Philippe has been such a supportive, loyal, and respectful partner throughout this transition, and we are deeply grateful to him.’
The Aviv Quartet was formed in 1997 and studied with the Amadeus, Alban Berg and Ysaÿe Quartets, and Isaac Stern. In 1999, the group won the Grand Prize and four special prizes at the Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition, as well as first prize at the Charles Hennen Competition in the Netherlands.
In recent years, the quartet has performed a complete cycle of Beethoven’s string quartets over six concerts for Swiss Radio and Television, and released The Last Quartets, dedicated to Schubert on Aparté.
Garbot will perform with the Aviv Quartet in its upcoming concert in Grandson, Switzerland on 2 February, where the ensemble will be joined by cellist Valentin Erben of the Alban Berg Quartet for Schubert’s String Quintet.
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