GAC Music Management
Quartetto Noûs
A chamber group defying the odds of sound
My Bio
Sofia Manvati - violin
Alberto Franchin - violin
Sara Dambruoso - viola
Riccardo Baldizzi - cello
Noûs (nùs) is a Greek word whose meaning is ‘mind’, and thence ‘rationality’, but also ‘inspiration’
and ‘creativity’.
Formed in 2011, the Quartetto Noûs has gone on to established itself as one of the most interesting
chamber music ensembles of its generation.
The quartet studied at the Accademia Walter Stauffer in Cremona with the Quartetto di Cremona, at
the Basel Musik Akademie with Rainer Schmidt (Hagen Quartet), at the Escuela Superior de
Música ‘Reina Sofia’ in Madrid and at the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena with Günter
Pichler (Alban Berg Quartet) and at the Lübeck Musikhochschule with Heime Müller (Artemis
Quartet).
In 2014 Quartetto Noûs was selected to take part in the project ‘Le Dimore del Quartetto’. In the
same year, they were also awarded a scholarship offered by the Foundatión Albeniz of Madrid.
The Piero Farulli Prize, given to the best emerging chamber music group was awarded to the quartet
in 2015.
The versatility and the interpretative originality of the ensemble appears in the quartet’s repertoire
and the attention to the new compositional languages drives the Quartet to experiment with
innovative concert formats like performing by heart in complete darkness.
The Noûs has worked with several contemporary composers and taken part in many cross-cutting
projects with theatre and dance companies.
They have collaborated with renowned artists like Tommaso Lonquich, Andrea Lucchesini, Bruno
Canino, Boris Petrushansky to name but a few.
In Italy the Quartet Noûs appears regularly in the most prestigious concert series.
Further afield the quartet regularly performs in United Kindom, Germany, Switzerland, France,
Spain, Canada, United States, Colombia, South Korea and China.
Their performances have been broadcasted by several radio stations such as RAI Radio 3, Venice
Classic Radio, Radio Clásica and RSI.
In 2013 and 2017 they were Quartet in residence at Festival Ticino Musica in Lugano.
The Quartetto Noûs has recorded with music labels such as Brilliant Classics, Tactus, DaVinci
Edition and Warner Classics.
From 2021 to 2024 the Quartet has recorded the “complete” Shostakovich’ string quartets, the piano
quintet (with pianist Roberto Plano) and the octet (with the Quartetto di Cremona) for Brilliant
Classics.
PROJECT
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Performance Highlight
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MUSIC
PRESS
…this recording by the Quartetto Noûs has an exceptionally good sound…the superb sound given to the Noûs really does make a difference. It is simultaneously richer and in closer focus.
(MusicWeb International - David McDade)
Decisive and unanimous, the Noûs had the measure of the piece, as well as energy and clear heads.
The renaissance of the string quartet in Italy: among the most important successful groups, we certainly point out the “Quartetto Noûs”.
(Archi Magazine)
Achievements
2015 Awarded the ‘Piero Farulli Prize’ , the most important prize of the Italian critics.
2015 Awarded the ‘Una Vita nella Musica’ prize, that has the aim to celebrate the most distinguished personalities of the international stage.
2021 The Quartet starts to record the complete Shostakovich’s String Quartets cycle for the Brilliant Classics label
