About Us
The Eilan Quartet is a string quartet based in South Wales, who are available for both formal and informal occasions. The quartet formed in 2014 after meeting at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. They regularly enjoy various performance opportunities including RWCMD Chamber Tuesdays, Cardiff National Museum, Prior Park in Bath and recitals at All Saints Church in Penarth, St Peter's Church in Budleigh Salterton and St Michaels and All Angels Church in Cwmdu.
Eilan have been fortunate enough to receive regularl coaching from Catherine Manson, James Boyd and Jonathan Manson from the London Haydn Quartet as part of their Music Works programme.
Other coaching opportunities have included Alice Neary, Rachel Roberts, The Elias Quartet and Rafael Todes from the Allegri Quartet. The quartet’s enjoys a wide range of repertoire from light-hearted background music to the more serious Haydn, Beethoven, Mendelsohn and Debussy. In 2016 the quartet were prizewinners of the Bridgewood and Neitzert competition and represented the RWCMD at the Cavatina Intercollegiate Competition at the Royal Academy of Music.
In 2016 the quartet enjoyed creating an outreach programme which they took into schools in the hope of spreading their passion for music.
The Eilan Quartet are Abigail Askew, Emma Curtis, Lily Rogers and India George.
Abigail Askew - Violin
Abigail Askew started violin lessons in 2002, under the tuition of Ralph Barker as part of Kirklees Music School in her hometown Huddersfield. She led Kirklees Youth Symphony orchestra from 2010 before accepting a full scholarship to study at RWCMD with Lesley Hatfield in 2013. Highlights from her time at college include master classes with Daniel Philips, period ensemble performances with Rachel Podger, Maggie Faultless and Harry Christophers and orchestral placement with BBCNOW and WNO.
Emma Curtis - Violin
Emma Curtis started to learn the violin at the age of 11 in Bedfordshire, where she later led the North Hertfordshire Youth and Chamber Orchestra and was a member of Hertfordshire County Youth Orchestra. In 2014 she accepted a full scholarship to study at RWCMD and is now in her second year of her undergraduate degree where she is studying with Darragh Morgan. Emma has also had the opportunity to perform in various prestigious venues such as Notre Dame in Paris, Menin Gate in Belgium, St. Peters Basilica in Rome and The Royal Albert Hall in London. As a passionate chamber musician, she hopes to be able to further pursue chamber music in future.
Lily Rogers - Viola
Lily Rogers is a violist studying at the RWCMD with a full scholarship under the tuition of Louise Williams and Dorothea Vogel. Before studying at the RWCMD she enjoyed the opportunity to play as principle viola in youth orchestras, such as South Downs Youth Orchestra, East Sussex String Chamber Orchestra and East Sussex Youth Orchestra. Other orchestral experiences include playing with the Young Musicians Symphony Orchestra based in London, the Welsh National Youth Opera in their 2013 production of Paul Bunyan and on a side-by-side scheme with WNO. Lily is especially interested in period performance and enjoys playing the baroque viola and has had opportunities in working with Maggie Faultless and Harry Christophers. Lily is keen on challenging herself and recently learnt the Erhu (Chinese Violin) for an onstage role in the 2016 WYNO production of Kommilitonen by Sir Peter Maxwell Davies. Lily is keen to share her love of chamber music and in 2016 is hoping to set up and supervise a Junior String Quartet.
She also passionate about taking music out into the wider community and recently participated in a music therapy project with the Touch Trust. Performance highlights have included performing at Buckingham Palace with the Royal Welsh String Soloists, who have also previously performed along side Henning Kraggerud in a performance of his composition Equinox. In 2013 she performed the Stamitz Viola Concerto with the Eastbourne College Symphony Orchestra.
She has enjoyed masterclasses with Rachel Podger, Simon Rowland Jones, Rachel Roberts and David Adams and lessons with Danny Philips and Judy Tarling. This year Lily is looking forward to orchestral placement with WNO.
India George - Cello
India George began playing the Cello at the age of 13, having previously studied the violin, in her hometown of Malvern. As a member of Worcestershire Youth Orchestra and Youth String Orchestra, she toured Germany in 2013 and performed annually at Birmingham’s Symphony Hall. In 2014, she accepted her place on the undergraduate course with an entrance scholarship to RWCMD where she began her studies with Penny Driver. She now studies with Jonathan Dormand. Highlights of her time at college include singing Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius under Simon Rattle at the BBC Proms, and being part of RWCMD's Chamber and Symphony Orchestras. Since being at RWCMD, India has had the opportunity to play in masterclasses with Paul Watkins of the Emerson Quartet, and enjoys regular coaching with her String Quartet.