Chch String quartet draws praise

Press, 9 April 1988, Page 12

Chch String quartet draws praise

l By

TONY VERDON

in London Illness has struck aj member of the Christ-! church group taking part in the Portsmouth Inter;-; national String Quartet Competition this week; | The group’s second violin player, Martin Riseley, has been diagnosed as suffering from glandular fever, and has _‘_beer| unwell since the group arrived in Britain on April 1- >1

But he had improved enough by Monday to en--able the group to begin rehearsing for the competition. He is also expected to be well enough for the group to continue in the competition. Il Another member of the quartet, James Tennant, said the group was not very happy about the way

it had played in the first round of the competition; However, afterwards many of those at the performance had praised their playing. | Mr Tennant said the members were hopeful of reaching the I second round of the prestigious competition, which! will be decided this week-end. I Twenty-six quartets

from 14 countries are tak-

ing part in the competition, the artistic director of which is Sir Yehudi Menuhin. Since its formation in May, 1987, the Vivo String Quartet has played to consistent critical acclaim. The leader is Jan Tawroszewicz, with James Tennant, Martin Riseley and Anthony van Buren.

Polish-born i, Jan Tawroszewicz is the only member of the quartet

with wide experience of such competitions. He has had vast experience of the international concert scene as former leader of the Polish String Quartet, and as a member of the Warsaw Piano Quartet.

James Tennant plays the cello, while Martin Riseley and Anthony van Buren play the violin and viola respectively.

Jan Tawroszewicz and James Tennant teach at the University of Canterbury School of Music. Martin Riseley and Anthony van Buren are students of music at the university. The group’s participation in the competition is being sponsored by the property development, construction and timber company, Paynter Corporation, of Christchurch.