The critically acclaimed ensemble, The Endellion String Quartet, celebrate their 30th anniversary with the release of a spectacular 10 CD Box Set of new recordings of Beethoven String Quartets and String Quintets, and all quartet and quintet fragments. The release also coincides with the 800th anniversary of Cambridge University, where they have been quartet in residence since 1992, and therefore form a key part in the quartet’s celebrations as musical ambassador.

The Endellion String Quartet formed in 1979, and is renowned as one of the finest quartets in the world.

Winner of the Royal Philharmonic Society Award for Best Chamber Ensemble, the quartet have an international touring schedule and have performed at every major venue and festival across the globe. They have worked with the likes of Sir Thomas Allen, Joshua Bell, Michael Collins, Steven Isserlis, Mitsuko Uchida and Tabea Zimmerman. Their presence in London has been marked by several series both at the South Bank and Wigmore Hall, where the quartet were Artistic Directors of several ‘Quartet Plus’ series.

All the music featured in the recording is from the new scholarly performing edition by well known Beethoven scholar, Jonathan del Mar, and published by Bärenreiter. These Beethoven symphony editions are already used by orchestras worldwide.

To mark the double anniversary celebrations, the quartet will be performing six concerts at West Road concert hall in Cambridge, four concerts at the Wigmore Hall in London throughout October, January, March and June, plus master classes and educational workshops worldwide. The Endellion String Quartet will also feature in the BBC film ‘Searching for Beethoven’ (Seventh Art Poductions) due for broadcast in January 2009, where a number of excerpts of the Beethoven recordings played by the Endellion String Quartet will be featured.