Interview with Fair Play Quartet

Fair Play Quartet is made up of graduates of the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw, who also collaborate with orchestras such as the National Opera and the Polish Radio Orchestra. They have a repertoire that includes both classical and popular music. The group has participated in recordings of albums by numerous Polish pop artists. In 2013, they released their own album "Kolędy | Carols". The quartet performs concerts worldwide. In April of this year, they are embarking on a tour to China.


1. You are all graduates of the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw. Did you meet there and decide to form a quartet together? How did your journey together begin?
In the original lineup of the quartet, we met during our studies while recording music for Michał Kwieciński's film "Jutro idziemy do kina". Since then, we have started a collaboration under the name Fair Play Quartet. Since May 2012, Justyna Milkiewicz has been playing the second violin part. Apart from working in the quartet, we are also friends privately. Some of us have known each other since primary school.

2. From the information on your website, it seems that your repertoire consists of a variety of musical genres, including popular music. Does this mean that you feel comfortable in every musical genre or do you have your favorite styles, genres, epochs?
We are a group that moves between classical and popular music. We all come from families connected with popular music, and we enjoy this type of playing the most. However, part of our roots, due to education and the "orchestral" beginning of our musical career, still keeps us in the classical realm. We value classical music too much to completely abandon it. In addition, working in a string quartet requires maintaining a technique, a playing apparatus, which we perfect in classical repertoire. One of our favorite pieces is J.S. Bach's Fugues from the WTC arranged for a quartet by W.A. Mozart. We also highly value studio work. In our repertoire, we have many arrangements of pop hits by stars such as Michael Jackson, Adele, or Bruno Mars written specifically for our group. We do not close ourselves off to any genre of music.

3. Although you are young people, you already have significant achievements and experience to your name thanks to collaborations with, among others, the National Opera, Sinfonia Varsovia, and Sinfonia Iuventus. To what extent do you feel that this "extra-quartet" activity enriches you and how does it affect your work within the group?
Working in a quartet requires technical skills, tuning between instruments, as well as coordination and mutual understanding. Orchestral experiences have taught us primarily how to react to each other and play in a group, as well as discipline. Each of us also works on theatrical or entertainment projects. Each experience enriches us with new knowledge that can be applied to specific issues during quartet work.

4. In April 2014, you plan a concert tour to China. Have you performed in this country before, or will this be your first performance in China?In China, we have been several times as part of various orchestral projects, so this country is not unfamiliar to us. However, this quartet lineup will be our first tour in China.

5. What repertoire will you present to the local music lovers there?The requirement of the Chinese music market is 90-minute concerts, divided into two 45-minute parts. Therefore, it seemed natural to us to divide the program into classical and popular. In the first part of the concert, alongside the already mentioned Bach Fugues, there will be works by Polish composers - Panufnik, Chopin, Bacewicz, as well as a cello quartet by Jan Stokłosa. The second part consists of lighter pieces. We will start with the Suite from West Side Story by Leonard Bernstein and end with Adele's hit "Rolling in the Deep". The second part will also include works by Derwid (Witold Lutosławski) arranged specifically for our group by the aforementioned Jan Stokłosa.

6. Does your repertoire meet the expectations of the Chinese audience?The program was established in agreement with the Chinese concert agency "Eurovista", which is the organizer of our tour. Among other things, at their request, one of the concerts, at Hangtian University in Beijing, will consist exclusively of popular songs. We wanted to include a lot of Polish music in the repertoire - not only classical, but also closer to a younger audience, pop music, hence in the repertoire, among others, there are works by Derwid or Kurylewicz.

7. In which places will you be performing?Our concert tour includes major cities in China - Beijing, Shanghai, Baotou, Xuzhou, Fuling, Chongqing. The concerts will take place in large, well-equipped, modern concert halls, most of which accommodate over 1000 people. In Shanghai, we will also perform as part of the Polish Culture Week organized by the Polish Consulate.

8. What are your plans after the end of your concert tour? Do you plan to continue performing abroad or maybe record a new album?We have many ideas and plans. In addition to the constantly appearing concert proposals, we are considering recording several of our projects, including recording Derwid's songs. We also have several invitations to record string parts on albums by Polish vocalists. The tour in China is one of many projects we are working on - in the near future, certainly one of the most exotic.

www.fairplayquartet.com/