Opium String Quartet

Opium String Quartet (O.S.Q) was formed in the spring of 2004. Just under three months later, they made their debut at the summer festival in honor of Jerzy Waldorf in Radziejowice, receiving enthusiastic reviews.

Since then, the quartet has established a strong position among Polish chamber ensembles, participating in many festivals and musical events throughout the country (Warsaw Autumn, International Music Festival in Łańcut, Multicultural Festival 'Galicia', Portraits of Composers, Warsaw Music Meetings, Chopiniana Festival, Signed - Fabryka Trzciny, Witold Lutosławski Festival, Jewish Culture Festival 'Warsaw Singer', International Forte Stars Festival - Piano in Toruń, Fryderyk Gala 2011 and others).

In addition to a wide classical repertoire, O.S.Q has numerous performances to their credit, including premieres of works by Polish composers, both young and older generation: D. Przybylski, B. Kowalski-Banasewicz, S. Czarnecki, W. Kilar, A. Krzanowski, M. Małecki, P. Moss, S. Radwan. The quartet's first album nominated for the Fryderyk 2011 award titled 'Back to Melody', was dedicated to Polish music (W. Kilar, M. Małecki, S. Czarnecki).

The ensemble promotes native creativity not only on stage, in recordings or on the radio. The quartet's ambition is to encourage composers to work creatively, commission new compositions and seek interesting arrangements (e.g. Polish Suite for String Quartet, Fryderyk's Dream and M. Małecki's III String Quartet, W. Kilar's Orawa in K. Urbański's arrangement).

O.S.Q, as one of the few chamber ensembles, is also the creator of original concert programs. Fascination with art, literature and history - has become the driving force for the ensemble to search for new forms of expression and to combine music with words. Hence the frequent collaboration of the quartet with actors (including Teresa Budzisz-Krzyżanowska, Jan Nowicki, Anna Seniuk, Jerzy Zelnik). Among the numerous original programs (according to Magdalena Małecka's scripts), it is worth mentioning: Tango Therapy - an audiovisual project based on Astor Piazzolla's tangos, Cross - Flowering Tree - a passion concert dedicated to religious poetry from the Middle Ages to the present, or Saved Sounds - a program in memory of composers and victims of the concentration camp in Teresin.

O.S.Q has performed in many renowned venues (e.g. National Philharmonic in Warsaw, W. Lutosławski Polish Radio Concert Studio, Agnieszka Osiecka Polish Radio Studio, Royal Castle in Warsaw, Gdańsk Shipyard, Fabryka Trzciny, Krakow Opera, Grand Theatre in Łódź, Łańcut Castle).

In recent years, the ensemble has established cooperation with Polish record companies: CD Accord (album: Back to Melody, 2010) and Acte Prealable (album: Maciej Małecki, The Dream of Frédéric, String Quartets Nos. 1-3, 2012).

O.S.Q is made up of four chamber musicians - graduates of the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music: Agnieszka Marucha - 1st violin, Anna Szalińska - 2nd violin, Magdalena Małecka - viola, Olga Łosakiewicz-Marcyniak - cello.

More about the quartet on the website: www.opium.art.pl
Photo by Barbara Piotrowska/Vidoq