The Josefine Viola Quartet will play a concert of music by Grazyna Bacewicz (1909-1959), centred around her quartets for violins and cellos, both arranged for violas. Bacewicz was a polish composer and violinist, and was one of the first female polish composers to gain international recognition. She led the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra from 1936-38, which gave her the opportunity to hear and play some of her own music. As such many of her works feature the violin, and she wrote many pieces for the solo instrument, some of which we have transcribed for viola.
The Josefine Quartet was formed in 2023 of viola players in Oxford University Orchestra, Ynyr Pritchard, Anneka Vetter, Josh Albuquerque and Izzy Neary-Adams. They have enjoyed performances at Jitterbug as part of the Oxford Cultural Programme, in recital series at New, Magdalen, St Hilda’s, and St Peter’s colleges, and have taken part in a masterclass with the Castalian quartet. The combination is an unusual one, so they have made numerous arrangements, including the ones you will hear today.