String quartet returns to Teesside for concert

An internationally known string quartet featuring Teesside University honorary graduates is returning to its home town.

Since forming in Middlesbrough in 1972 and giving their first concert at what was then Teesside Polytechnic, the Brodsky Quartet went on to perform thousands of concerts across the world.

Original quartet members Michael Thomas, Ian Belton, Paul Cassidy and Jacqueline Thomas became Honorary Graduates of Teesside University in 1996.

And now two of the original four are returning to home soil to take part in a concert at Stokesley Methodist Church, High Street, Stokesley, at 7.45pm on Sunday 16 February. Tickets are £12 and £4 students, payable at the door.

Alongside their performances, the quartet is also involved in education work, enabling them to pass their musical experience and help to nurture the next generation of musicians.

The concert is part of the Teesside Music Society's current season. George Reid, of Teesside Music Society, said: 'The Brodsky Quartet is thought to have given the first public performance around 1972 at what was then Teesside Polytechnic. They continue to have a spectacular career in performing and recording.

'Two of the original players are still in the quartet, while members were honoured by Teesside University in 1996 with honorary degrees acknowledging their Middlesbrough roots and their outstanding musical contribution over a long period.' He added: 'As international performers they appear rarely around the home patch, so it is a great pleasure to have them back in the area.'

The music comprises shorter pieces by Borodin and Samuel Barber's famous Adagio, plus quartets by Tchaikovsky and the Austrian Alexander Zemlinsky.

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