Quatuor MP4

The MP4 Quartet was created in 2008. At the time, its members, Claire Bourdet, Margaret Hermant, Pierre Heneaux, Merryl Havard, are young graduates of the Royal Conservatoires of Belgium and choose to steer their work in supporting new creations as well as performing classical master pieces. They gain experience and freedom of expression at the Orpheus Institute of Ghent and with the Danel, Pavel Haas, Pražák and Kronos quartets. They recently played at the Elb Filarmonie Hamburg, a piece by Pierre Slinckx, with whom they worked to create a new quartet with electronic as chamber music. The piece has just been recorded in Belgium for Label Cyprès and will be out in fall 2019. Their previous recording was a CD with bresilian musician Osman Martins, for Label Homerecords. They also took part in the Original Soundtrack (by Eric Bribosia) of Bitter Flowers, a film by Olivier Meys. For the 2019 season, among some more classical concerts, Quartet MP4 will be working with Vera Tussing, on a new project about dance and music, Tactile Quartet, in collaboration with the Kaai Theatre. At the crossroad of diverse artistic performances, the Quartet MP4 participates in 2010 and 2012 in the Danse X Music shows I and II, benchmarks for the successful young dancers of P.A.R.T.S., in collaboration with the Royal Opera La Monnaie (Brussels). In 2011, the MP4 Quartet creates the Handelbeurs (Ghent) concert around the works of Shostakovich, with commentary by the actress Elise Steenackers. The same year , they collaborate in a projection of “Different Trains” by Steve Reich, presented by Leila Film in the Namur’s Theatre and record for Cypress label two poems of Emile Verhaeren (Albert Huybrecht / chamber music II / Ultimate Melodies). The MP4 Quartet also participates in the Festival "Concerts en nos villages” hosted by Guy Danel, and their summer ends in the Gaume Jazz Festival on a white card by Fabrice Alleman (arrangements Michel Herr). In the 2014 season, the MP4 Quartet creates the "Steve Reich project”: a show around Steve Reich’s creations, alongside the choreographer Isabella Soupart, in close collaboration with Jeunesses Musicales and the festival Ars Musica. The MP4 Quartet also participates in many festivals such as the Festival of Flanders in Kortrijk, Europe in Music, Midis Minimes and plays at the Concertgebouw in Bruges and for De Groote Post in Ostend (Scoop on Tour 2014). In close collaboration with Chamber Music for Europe, the MP4 Quartet is invited to join in the Chiré-en-Montreuil (France) and Cramard’s Festivals, in Pick Opus and in the Nuit Blanche in Brussels. They also collaborate in the "Private Domain Hosokawa" project - String quartet Happening at the Concertgebouw in Bruges. The 2016 and 2017 seasons revolved around a residence at the Senghor, on the theme of metamorphoses, with 5 programs covering various facets of the MP4 Quartet - 1: Beethoven / Fafchamps; 2: Ligety and Sciarrino in collaboration with Fatou Traoré; 3: "Steve Reich Project "in collaboration with Isabella Soupart; 4: Scelsi / Fafchamps / Lutoslawski; 5: quartet and electronics for the LOOP Festival, Slincks / Fafchamps / Delforge. The MP4 Quartet has also been invited to join in the Ars Musica festival in November 2016 and in India for the Tansen Music Festival (December 2016).