[English below]

Quartet With A Twist is een strijkkwartet gevestigd in Amsterdam, bestaande uit studenten van verschillende conservatoria in Nederland. Het kwartet in zijn huidige bezetting werd opgericht in 2020 en zag een gat in de markt op het gebied van live-evenementen en bruiloftsmuziek. Vanwege het eerdere succes in hun thuisbasis Perth, West-Australië, besloot het kwartet een nieuwe doorstart te maken in Nederland en daarmee hun kennis over de hele wereld te brengen.

De “Twist” in de naam van Quartet With A Twist staat voor hun uniek instrumentatie – in plaats van de standaard twee violen, altviool en cello, is de cello vervangen door een contrabas! Als gevolg hiervan is het geluid van Quartet With A Twist uniek en onderscheidt het zich van andere strijkkwartetten.

De kern van Quartet With A Twist bestaat uit drie vrienden die elkaar hebben leren kennen tijdens hun deelname aan het Nationaal Jeugd Orkest Nederland (NJO), de eerste Nederlandse jeugdorkestopleiding. Elk lid brengt een schat aan ervaring uit zijn thuisland mee, waarover u hieronder meer kunt lezen in hun biografieën.

Met hun vrolijke persoonlijkheden en muzikaal vakmanschap van hoog niveau, bent u met Quartet With A Twist in de beste handen.

Quartet With A Twist is a string quartet based in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, composed of conservatory students from around the country. Forming in 2020, the quartet saw a gap in the market for specialised live event and wedding music and, since its success from its origination in Perth, Western Australia, decided to bring that knowledge across the globe.

The ‘Twist’ in Quartet With A Twist’s name stands for their unique instrumentation – instead of the standard two violins, viola and cello, the cello has been replaced with a double bass! As a result, Quartet With A Twists sound is unique and sets them apart from other string quartets.

The core of Quartet With A Twist is comprised of three friends who met whilst participating in the Nationaal Jeugd Orkest Nederland (NJO) - the country’s premiere youth orchestra training program. Each member brings on a wealth of experience from their home country, which you can read more about below in their biographies.

With their fun personalities and high calibre of musicianship, Quartet With A Twist has got you covered for your next event!

MEET THE MUSICIANS

KARINA SOSNOWSKA

violin

Originally from Poland, Karina completed 13 years of musical education at the Music School in Gdynia under Professor Małgorzata Skorupa. Karina has won awards in many international and Polish competitions for both solo and chamber music performances, and was awarded scholarships for artistic achievements of the Mayor of Gdynia five times. Karina currently focuses on playing concerts in the Netherlands and trying to deepen her historical performance skills. She performs with the Baltic Sea Philharmonic and De Nieuwe Philharmonie Utrecht. Karina completed her Bachelor studies under Eliot Lawson in June 2020 and is now continuing with her Masters at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam.

INGEL MÄTTAS

violin

Graduating from the Georg Ots Tallinn Music College, Estonia under Professor Ester Vain in 2017, Ingel completed her Bachelor studies at the HKU Utrechts Conservatory with Chris Duindam. During her past three years in the Netherlands, she has taken part in orchestras such as the Nationaal Jeugd Orkest, Luxembourg Summer Orchestra, and Järvi Academy Youth Symphony Orchestra. She has also competed in several competitions and, in 2016, was awarded a special prize for her interpretation of the second movement of Eduard Tubin’s Violin Concerto No. 1 at the IX Estonian Young String Players Competition.

LILIAN HAUG

viola

Since 2018, Lilian has been studying at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam with Francien Schatborn. Originally from Switzerland, Lilian has played in different orchestras such as the Sinfonietta Schaffhausen, ZHdK Strings, and Swiss Youth Symphony Orchestra, among others. She regularly takes part in masterclasses with great violists and violinists such as Nobuko Imai, Patrick Jüdt, Veit Hertenstein, Garth Knox, Rudolf Koelman, Hartmut Lindemann, and Mateusz Szczepkowski. Aside from classical music, Lilian has a lot of experience playing all different styles of music coming from a jazz drumming background, which has seen her win several prizes with her band.

EBONY LIM

double bass

The founder of QWAT, Ebony currently resides in Amsterdam whilst studying at the Koninklijk Conservatorium, Den Haag. She holds a Bachelor of Arts (Specialist Music Studies and Music Studies) and a Graduate Diploma in Education, both from The University of Western Australia. Before her move, she taught double bass through the Instrumental Music School Services through the Department of Education, Western Australia, whilst also freelancing with both professional and community orchestras. She continues to freelance in the Netherlands and is also currently the General Director (COO) of the Zemlinsky Chamber Orchestra.