Britain’s longest-established string quartet? Sacconi Quartet celebrates 25 years with the line-up unchanged

The Sacconi Quartet – Ben Hancox, Hannah Dawson, Robin Ashwell, Cara Berridge (Photo: Clive Barda)

The Sacconi Quartet is celebrating its 25th anniversary with the line-up unchanged since Ben Hancox, Hannah Dawson, Robin Ashwell and Cara Berridge formed the quartet at the Royal College of Music in 2001, making them seemingly Britain’s longest-established string quartet. The quartet will kick off their 25th birthday celebrations with a gala concert at the Wigmore Hall on Friday 20 February 2026.

The Wigmore Hall programme includes the world premiere of Freya Waley-Cohen’s Dances, Songs & Hymns for Friendship, commissioned for the occasion – a testament to “25 years of enduring friendship, all the different twists and turns of life they have seen each other through”. And Waley-Cohen’s piece will feature in Sacconi programmes throughout the year. At Wigmore Hall the quartet will also be playing Haydn’s String Quartet in C Op. 33 No. 3 ‘The Bird’ and Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 15 in A minor Op. 132.

The quartet has given over 30 world premiere performances and made premiere recordings of works by Roxanna Panufnik, Jonathan Dove, Graham Fitkin and John McCabe. The quartet’s performance film of Dove’s first quartet Out of Time’ was released on Amazon Prime in 2021 and is now available to all, via the quartet’s YouTube channel.

Three members of the quartet perform on instruments made by the great Italian violin maker Simone Sacconi (1895-1973), who studied fellow luthier Antonio Stradivari extensively during his lifetime. The blend of these instruments, combined with many years of intimate work and understanding, have led to the quartet’s unique sound. 

The Sacconi Quartet is Quartet in Association at the Royal College of Music and Quartet in Residence for the town of Folkestone. The Sacconi Chamber Music Festival in Folkestone, which runs from 14 to 17 May 2026, is now in its 19th year and firmly established among the UK’s major chamber music festivals.

See Wigmore Hall website for details of the birthday concert.