is a Polish string quartet focusing on contemporary music. Its members, Karolina Piątkowska-Nowicka (1st violin), Paweł Kapica (2nd violin), Michał Markiewicz (viola), and Krzysztof Pawłowski (cello) are great enthusiasts of modern art, often combining contemporary classical music with visual arts, modern dance, and electronics.
NeoQuartet’s aim is to collaborate with contemporary composers and to make their music familiar to the wider audience. NeoQuartet is one of the most active Polish ensembles specialising in new music performance. Their repertoire includes works notably by Steve Reich, George Crumb, Alfred Schnittke, and Krzysztof Penderecki, as well as first performances of numerous young composers.
In 2009, NeoQuartet participated in the Gaudeamus International Competition in Amsterdam, reaching the semifinal stage. In 2010, NeoQuartet released their debut album on the DUX label, featuring diverse contemporary music: Aleksander Lasoń’s eclectic String Quartet, Toshio Hosokawa’s sonoristic Floral Fairy, and Guus Janssen’s minimal-music Streepjes. Two other compositions on that CD written by Agnieszka Stulgińska and Marek Czerniewicz were dedicated to NeoQuartet.
In 2012, NeoQuartet was nominated to the Storm of the Year Award, Pomeranian Artistic Award, and Fryderyk Award for their debut CD. In 2014, NeoQuartet recorded three CD albums with the music of Dosia McKay (on Gavia Music), Aleksander Kościów (on DUX), and Joanna Bruzdowicz (on Acte Préalable). NeoQuartet is also the organiser of the NeoArte Festival–New Music Spectrum. The main idea of this annual event is to popularise contemporary classical music to a wider audience. Renowned composers, established artists and young talented musicians meet to formulate a new musical perspective of our times. The first edition of the festival took place in October 2012 in Sopot, Poland, with leading Polish composer Paweł Szymański as guest of honour, followed by Elżbieta Sikora in 2013 and Cezary Duchnowski in 2014. Performers at the festival have included Motion Trio, Kwartludium, Szábolcs Esztényi, Ensemble Nostri Temporis, Kuba Kapsa Ensemble, and Agata Zubel. Since 2013 the festival’s formula has been gradually expanded to include workshops for composers, contemporary improvisation, and children.
The NeoArte Association established by NeoQuartet regularly commissions works with Polish and foreign composers such as Sławomir Kupczak, Jakub Polaczyk, Bohdan Sehin, Aleksander Kościów, Alexey Shmurak, Jerzy Kornowicz, Agnieszka Stulgińska, Marek Czerniewicz, Dariusz Przybylski, Xiaogang Ye, and Gabriel Paiuk.
