Members of the Carducci Quartet

Matthew Denton (violin) and Emma Denton (cello)

Matthew Denton (violin) and Emma Denton (cello) have performed together for more than 20 years as the leader and cellist of the Carducci Quartet – one of the UK’s most successful string quartets.

As chamber musicians they have won prizes at international competitions including the Concert Artists Guild (USA), Kuhmo (Finland), Charles Hennen (Holland), Osaka (Japan), Bordeaux (France) and London (UK).

Their discography with the Carducci Quartet numbers over 20 CDs, for labels including Signum, Naxos, BMG, Somm, Nimbus and Carducci Classics – the quartet’s own label. They have performed at major concert halls around the world including Carnegie Hall, Washington Library of Congress, Wigmore Hall, Concertgebouw Amsterdam and Tivoli Hall Copenhagen, and the quartet performs around 90 concerts each year.

Known for their complete cycles of Bartok, Beethoven and Shostakovich, in 2015 they won a Royal Philharmonic Society award for ‘Shostakovich15’ – a project which included a performance of the complete Shostakovich quartets in one day, at Shakespeare’s Globe theatre in London.

As a soloist, Matthew has performed concerti by Bach, Mendelssohn, Vivaldi, Delius, Beethoven, Bruch and Brahms, and is regularly invited to guest lead a range of ensembles and orchestras. Matt can also regularly be heard on TV and film scores including Downton Abbey, Poldark, The Theory of Everything, Everest, Boxtrolls, Murder on the Orient Express, Shazam and Paddington. As a violinist Matt has also featured recently on albums by Ed Sheeran, Ellie Goulding and Jethro Tull.

They have set up the ‘Carducci Music Trust’ to help inspire musicians for the future and to enable more children to experience live music in schools.

Matthew plays on an historic Brother’s Amati violin from 1603 – ‘The Hurwitz ex Cooper‘