In the rarefied world of chamber music, the string quartet has always held a special place. It is an arena where four voices meet in an intimacy that cannot quite be explained. To play in a string quartet is to live inside a deeply intense centuries-old tradition shaped by musical giants like Haydn, Beethoven and Bartók, and few quartets survive more than a few years. To sustain one for over three decades, however, is a feat of artistic devotion.

This year, Oslo String Quartet marks its 35th anniversary. A journey that has been both demanding and profoundly rewarding. Since the foundation of the ensemble in 1991, the quartet – Geir Inge Lotsberg (violin), Liv Hilde Klokk-Bryhn (violin), Magnus Boye Hansen (viola) and Øystein Sonstad (cello) – has grown into one of Scandinavia’s most respected ensembles.

Celebrate 35 years of Oslo String Quartet

The story began in Oslo on 6 April in 1991, when a group of young musicians stepped in for an ensemble that suddenly could not perform. Their first concert took place in Gamle Logen; the first notes were Mozart. “We were still students,” says Sonstad, who co-founded the group with Lotsberg, Per Kristian Skalstad (violin), and Are Sandbakken (viola). “We didn’t know exactly what it was, but we felt something. That rapport between four players is everything in a string quartet.”

Three decades later, that instinct has proven correct. Oslo String Quartet have performed across Scandinavia, Europe and the United States, gaining acclaim at Wigmore Hall, Carnegie Hall, and at the Schleswig-Holstein Festival. The recordings of Grieg and Carl Nielsen earned international praise, and the repertoire has made them a beloved fixture on the Nordic chamber scene.

Celebrate 35 years of Oslo String Quartet

A playground for risk

If classical string quartets often appear bound by tradition, the Oslo String Quartet have spent 35 years quietly (and sometimes loudly) pushing at the boundaries. Sonstad, the group’s resident arranger, has expanded their sound world to include everything from Duke Ellington and ABBA to Dave Brubeck and PSY.

For the string quartet, this independence is not about controlling outcomes but about expanding possibilities. “We wanted to shape things ourselves,” says Klokk-Bryhn. “Taking control of our own creative freedom is important to us, both in the musical performances and otherwise, so in 2024, we took a step further and launched our own record label, OSQ.”

The first release, Learn to Wait, featuring Nils Henrik Asheim’s music, was nominated for Spellemannsprisen, a Norwegian Grammy of sorts. The newest album, released in late 2025, revisits the Norwegian repertoire through Christian Sinding’s Piano Quintet, a major work seldom recorded.

Celebrate 35 years of Oslo String Quartet

In addition to the record label, the quartet continues to push boundaries and express their creative freedom through their annual mini-festivals, which they have been arranging since 2023. Each OSQ festival serves as a musical playground and features a strong conceptual frame: Ligeti in 2023, Ravel in 2024, and in 2025, a celebration of Nadia Boulanger and patron Elisabeth Sprague Coolidge.

Their 2026 festival, held on 28 February at Kulturkirken Jakob, will be their most ambitious yet. Titled simply “35,” it is a journey through the quartet’s past, present and future. “We start with the very first notes we ever played, Mozart,” says Lotsberg, “then we highlight milestones, new music that matters to us now, and works from that point forward.”

The future-facing section even embraces artificial intelligence, with visuals projected onto the church walls. “We’ve always dared to try new things,” Hansen says. “The festival is the perfect space for that.”

Celebrate 35 years of Oslo String Quartet

The intimacy of a quartet

In the words of Sonstad, a quartet can be described as a bare structure in which each member carries their own line. “If one falters, the whole thing collapses,” he says. “It’s incredibly exposed, but that’s what makes it beautiful.”

Compared to an orchestra, where a single conductor speaks, a quartet is a democratic form where everything you do affects the result. This has helped them navigate decades together, balancing personal commitments, travel, recording projects and an ever-expanding repertoire. They have premiered new works, revived forgotten Norwegian composers, and even ventured into film, opera and humorous video series, most recently The Corona Mystery, which drew attention across social media for its witty take on pandemic life. “Not many ensembles are as versatile as we are,” Sonstad says. “Classical at the highest level, but we’re not afraid to be silly, either.”

For all their achievements, OSQ retains a forward-looking energy. They recorded two albums in 2025 alone, continue to commission new works, and devote significant time to school concerts and outreach. As they enter their 35th year, the Oslo String Quartet stands as a reminder of what the classical tradition can be: rigorous yet alive, historically grounded yet evolving. Here is to 35 years gone by and another 35 to come.

Celebrate 35 years of Oslo String Quartet

Web: www.stringquartet.com
Facebook: Oslo String Quartet
Instagram: @oslostringquartet

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