The Fitzwilliam Quartet is a string quartet consisting of Lucy Russell and Colin Scobie, violins; Alan George, viola; and Heather Tuach, violoncello.
Founded in 1968 by four Cambridge undergraduates, the Fitzwilliam Quartet was one of the first of a long line of distinguished quartets to have emerged under the guidance of Sidney Griller at the Royal Academy of Music. They originally became well known through their close personal association with Dmitri Shostakovich, who befriended them following a visit to York to hear them play. He entrusted them with the Western premières of his last three quartets, and before long they had become the first ever group to perform and record all fifteen. These recordings gained many international awards, and secured for the quartet a worldwide concert schedule and a long term contract with Decca / London. They are known for using classical instruments for the appropriate repertoire, performing on both early and modern setups, sometimes within the same concert. In 1977, they won the first ever Grammy Award for Chamber Music.
In 1999, they re-established their connection with Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge, their namesake and their original rehearsal venue, when they were appointed Resident Quartet; they perform and lead workshops at the college on a regular basis. A new collaboration with Linn Records began in May 2000 with Haydn’s Seven Last Words. Recordings continued with the Brahms clarinet quintet together with clarinetist Lesley Schatzberger. They have also made a disc of 20th century English songs with piano quintet (including Vaughan Williams’s On Wenlock Edge), featuring collaborations with James Gilchrist and Anna Tilbrook.
Recent travels have taken them all over the world, to places such as the USA, South Africa, Slovenia, Russia, Switzerland, Germany, Spain, China and India. In 2008, their tour itinerary had them performing on the cruise ship MS Columbus around the Aegean.
In addition to his Fitzwilliam duties, Alan George is also the Musical Director of the Academy of St Olaves chamber orchestra.