Quatuor Diotima at 30

Quatuor Diotima are playing the Auditorium, Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall on Wednesday 18 November, a concert that marks their thirtieth anniversary. It's part of the York Concert 2026/27 season, and the ensemble has a long-standing association with the University of York, so this one feels like a bit of a homecoming. The whole evening is built around two anniversary commissions, both with local ties.

The first is the world premiere of Atomistic Compression, the Sixth Quartet by Thomas Simaku, who is a Professor of Composition here. The second is the UK premiere of Towards a not yet remembered past by Christian Mason, a former student of Simaku's and a York alumnus who's since won the Grawemeyer Award. Mason's piece takes highlights from the fourteenth-century Chantilly Codex and weaves them together with his own original material, so it's a bit of a conversation between the medieval and the modern. The night finishes with Zemlinsky's Second Quartet, a single-movement piece known for its rich harmonies, soaring lyricism and intense emotion.

Between the two new works, there's a clear line running through the programme: Simaku's world premiere, Mason's UK premiere, and then Zemlinsky's established quartet. The connection between the first two is a personal one, with Mason having studied under Simaku, and both of them having ties to the university. It's a good way to see how two different generations of composers working in the same city approach the string quartet.

The concert runs from 7:30pm to 9:30pm at the Auditorium, Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall, University of York, Heslington, York YO10 5DB.