THE Navarra String Quartet is joined by internationally acclaimed pianist Peter Donohoe for the penultimate concert of the Leeds International Chamber Series: Russia in Revolution on Tuesday, February 13. The concert features the least and best-known works in the series that explores the music surrounding the Russian Revolution following its recent centenary.

Shostakovich’s fifth string quartet opens this concert. Composed in Leningrad in 1952, it was premiered by the Beethoven Quartet to whom it is dedicated. The concert continues with Tchaikovsky’s first piece of chamber music: String Quartet No 1. The music is incredibly moving, and the work contains one of Tchaikovsky’s most famous movements. Peter Donohoe joins the Navarra String Quartet to close the concert with the Piano Quintet by Taneyev. The work is symphonic in nature, it is technically difficult and demands great virtuosity from its players. It features many contrasting musical forms, which give the music strong character, such as a passacaglia and a rondo.

Formed at the Royal Northern College of Music in 2002, the Navarra String Quartet has earned its international reputation as one of the most dynamic string quartets of today. The quartet has studied with the renowned Alban Berg Quartet and has performed at prestigious venues such as Wigmore Hall, the Berlin Konzerthaus and the Amsterdam Concertgebouw. After completing a three year residency as Associated Ensemble at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, its members will be the musical directors of the fifth edition of the 2018 Weesp Chamber Music Festival in Holland.

Peter Donohoe CBE has built an impressive reputation as one of the most acclaimed pianists of our time and has encompassed a huge repertoire in the forty years he has spent as a concert pianist. Peter studied at Chetham’s School of Music and the University of Leeds with Alexander Goehr. After graduating, he spent a year studying piano with composer Olivier Messiaen and Messiaen’s wife Yvonne Loriod. He has been in high demand to perform with renowned orchestras and has performed under Sir Simon Rattle numerous times, including with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. In his spare time, Peter performs in chamber ensembles and has been working on mastering Bach’s 48 Preludes and Fugues since 2005.

Tickets for the Navarra String Quartet are priced at £20.67-£18.55 and are available from the City Centre Box Office on 0113 376 0318 or online at www.leedsconcertseason.co.uk.