The Quatuor Danel was founded in 1991 and has operated in its current formation since cellist Yovan Markovitch joined the group in 2014. Over the past thirty years they have made a series of ground-breaking recordings, and collaborated with musical partners including Leif Ove Andsnes, Marc André Hamelin, Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, Alexander Melnikov, Adrien La Marca, Clemens Hagen and the Borodin Quartet.

Russian composers occupy a special place in the quartet’s repertoire but they have also fostered key relationships with contemporary composers such as Rihm, Lachenmann, Gubaidulina, Harvey, Dusapin, Widmann and Mantovani.

Most recent recordings, released by label Accentus, are the complete Shostakovich string quartet cycle, recorded at the Gewandhaus Leipzig. This semi-live recording received all the accolades a quartet can wish for: from a Diapason d'Or to a recommendation review in The Strad magazine, culminating in receiving the International Chamber Music Award 2025. In Spring their recording of the Prokofiev string quartets was released and in May 2026 the Danel will be recording the Piano Quintets by Shostakovich, Weinberg and Schnittke with Marc André Hamelin.

At the very heart of the Quatuor Danel’s work lies their ambassadorship for young musicians in general and string quartets in particular. Teaching and master classes are a fundamental part of their activities. The quartet has been artist-in-residence at the University of Manchester since 2005, working closely with the students. Marc Danel is also Artistic Director of the Netherlands String Quartet Academy.

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Gratia Arts represents the Quatuor Danel in the UK, France, Antipodes and Hong Kong.

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