Isla String Quartet
An afternoon of classic quartets
Sunday, 22nd February 2026 – 3.00pm
Great Hall, Hexham Abbey
Sponsored by The Tillett Trust
Isla String Quartet: Photo – Owen Graham
An exciting young ensemble visits the Tyne Valley
We’re delighted to be welcoming the Isla String Quartet to Hexham. Formed in 2023 and championed by the Tillett Trust’s DEBUT programme for young musicians of outstanding talent, they are already making waves in the music world. Come and join us in the intimate surroundings of the Great Hall at Hexham Abbey for an afternoon of string quartets by Mozart, Debussy, Haydn and Bartók.
Introducing the Isla String Quartet
The quartet may be at the start of their career, but it’s a career full of promise and prizes won. They were welcomed on to the Britten Pears Young Artists programme at Aldeburgh in 2023-4 and in June 2025 were invited back to Aldeburgh to take part in a masterclass with the Doric Quartet. In 2024, they collaborated with the great Australian composer and viola player, Brett Dean, in a performance of Mozart’s first string quintet at the Calne festival.
Praise and recognition for the Isla String Quartet:
Nina Drucker Haydn String Quartet Competition – 1st prize (2024)
Harold Craxton prize for chamber ensembles – 1st prize (2024)
Royal Over-Seas League Music Competition – finalist (2025)
‘Special acclaim for their performance of Haydn’s string quartets’ – Great Comp Music Festival, Kent.
‘Isla Quartet’s standout performance’ – Calne Music Festival, Wiltshire
Programme
The quartet have chosen a programme of four great works for us this afternoon. After their prize-winning performance in the Nina Drucker Haydn competition, we’re delighted that Haydn is included. They play one of his remarkable op. 64 quartets. They start the afternoon with a quartet Mozart wrote for the cello-playing king of Prussia. This is followed by Debussy’s one and only quartet, which was a huge success at its first performance and counted Ravel as one of its many admirers. Bartók’s six quartets are among the most celebrated of all string quartets. One reviewer has described the fourth as ‘astounding’.
Mozart String Quartet no. 21 in D major, K575
Debussy String Quartet in G minor, op. 10
Haydn String Quartet in E flat major, op. 64 no. 6
Bartók String Quartet no. 4, Sz. 91
Watch a recent performance
Here are the quartet playing the first movement of one of Haydn’s early op. 20 quartets.
Book your tickets for the Great Hall, Hexham Abbey
Four great string quartets – come and hear two centuries of quartet writing in one afternoon!
No booking fees when you book direct with us.
Event details
Venue: Great Hall, Hexham Abbey, Hexham, Northumberland
Date: Sunday, 22nd February 2026
Time: 3.00pm
Tickets: Online through the Hexham and District Music Society website. Also available from the Queen’s Hall Arts Centre (booking fee applies).
Sponsored by The Tillett Trust as part of its DEBUT programme
