Russian National Orchestra String Quintet

Just three months after its debut on the 2004 RNO Volga River Tour, Four Strings was in demand worldwide. That season the ensemble traveled to Singapore to perform composer Mark Chan’s String Quartet. “It is a brilliant ensemble, full of enthusiasm,” Chan declared of the quartet. Since then, the ensemble has performed regularly at home and abroad, demonstrating its rich talent by drawing on a wide-ranging repertoire of both familiar and original works.

Four Strings performed the Russian premiere of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, accompanied by American clarinetist Charles Neidich, and the world premiere of Andrey Rubtsov’s chamber ballet, “Wind’s Kiss,” accompanied by flutist Maxim Rubtsov and soloists of the Bolshoi Theater ballet. Other recent highlights include performances in London’s Russian Promenade Festival, Festival of the Arts BOCA in Florida, the Singapore Sun Festival, and the Tuscan Sun Festival in Italy. The quartet performed at the inaugural Festival Napa Valley in 2006, as well as in 2007 and 2010.

On disc, Four Strings has recorded the works of prominent Russian composers Andrey Semyonov and Valery Beluntsov.

The Quintet includes First violin Tatiana Porshneva, Second Violin Ekaterina Tsareva, Viola Sofia Lebed, Cello Olesya Gavrikova and Double bass Gennady Krutikov.

Violinist Tatiana Porshneva captivates audiences around the world. In 2003 Ms. Porshneva joined the Russian National Orchestra and soon thereafter was appointed Assistant Concertmaster. In this position she has worked with such eminent conductors and soloists as Mikhail Pletnev, Mstislav Rostropovich, Gidon Kremer, Vladimir Jurowski, Alexander Lazarev, Michel Plasson, Nikolaj Znaider and Joshua Bell. She is the artist director of RNO Four Strings.