Program season 2025 - 2026

• TUESDAY 14 OCTOBER 2025 - ANASTASIA FERULEVA & FRANK VAN DER LAAR
• TUESDAY 18 NOVEMBER 2025 - MARMEN QUARTET
• TUESDAY 23 DECEMBER 2025 - ALMA QUARTET
• TUESDAY 27 JANUARY 2026 - QUATUOR AROD
• TUESDAY 10 MARCH 2026 - VAN BAERLE TRIO
• TUESDAY 21 APRIL 2026 - ANIMATO QU ARTET AND QUATUOR DANEL

TUESDAY 14 OCTOBER 2025
20.15 p.m.

ANASTASIA FERULEVA & FRANK VAN DER LAAR

PROGRAM

The interplay of Feruleva and Van der Laar is widely praised for their expressive depth.
Anastasia Feruleva (1992) has been playing the cello since she was 5 years old and after the St. Petersburg Conservatory and the Hague Royal Conservatory with Larissa Groeneveld, she completed her training with the highest possible distinction in Lübeck. Already in 2016 she won 2nd prize at the Cello Biennale in Amsterdam. We see her frequently perform at festivals at home and abroad. Her performances as a soloist with leading orchestras and in chamber music settings are characterized by a fusion of a fascinating technical mastery of the instrument with convincing playing, passionate and compelling until the very last note.
Frank van der Laar(1965) is very active in the field of chamber music with a repertoire from Bach to contemporary. He completed his conservatory training with Jan Wijn in 1988 with the highest possible distinction. He then continued his studies with, among others, Naum Grubert in The Hague. Since then, his performances have received a warm welcome at home and abroad, receiving high-profile prizes and awards. He is a principal subject teacher at the Amsterdam Conservatory, among others.

Website: www.anastasiaferuleva.com

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TUESDAY 18 NOVEMBER 2025
20.15 p.m.

MARMEN QUARTET

PROGRAM

In 2013, this quartet, with the first violinist as its namesake, was founded by four musicians from the Royal College of Music in London.
Four different nationalities and cultures, what unites them is the music. Their reputation as one of the exciting new talents on the chamber music stage has quickly been established within and outside Europe. Their performance stands out for its dynamics, vitality and intensity. One reviewer qualified their playing this way: They impress as 4 separate players, while creating something that is so much greater than the sum of its parts. Between 2018 and 2020, the string quartet was a fellow at the Guildhall School of Music to hone their ensemble and interpretation skills under the guidance of a coach and with performances. In 2019, their fame translated into a first prize at the Bordeaux International String Quartet competition and another at the Banff (Canada) competition. This collaboration results in the Peak Fellowship Ensemble-in-Residence at the Meadows School of the Arts in Texas. In 2024 the quartet was a guest at the Amsterdam String Quartet Biennale.

Website: www.marmenquartet.com

TUESDAY 23 DECEMBER 2025
20.15 p.m.

ALMA QUARTET
with Nicolas van Poucke - piano

PROGRAM

This time a decidedly unusual ensemble: again the Alma Quartet, consisting of members of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, which was also a guest in our 2019-2020 series. It debuted in 2014 and quickly gained a national and international reputation as one of the most exciting string quartets of our time due to its adventurous ensemble playing and unconventional programming; it can handle the various sound worlds from classical to jazz very well. The ensemble can be heard in the Concertgebouw, but also in the Bimhuis and Paradiso.

This time collaboration has been sought with the Rising Star season 22-23 pianist Nicolas van Poucke (1992). He is one of the most important Dutch piano talents of the moment with highly regarded performances at home and abroad. His playing is characterized by its virtuosity and poetic expression. He started taking piano lessons at the age of six and later studied at the Sweelinck Conservatory in Amsterdam, with lessons from Jan Wijn, among others. And among his coaches we see the names of Murray Perahia, Martha Argerich and Alfred Brendel.

Website: www.almaquartet.com
www.nicolasvanpoucke.com

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TUESDAY 27 JANUARY 2026
20.15 p.m.

QUATUOR AROD

PROGRAM

We welcome the Quatuor Arod again after their successful performance in Diligentia in 2021. The members know each other from the Paris Conservatory and have been an ensemble since 2013. He studied with the Artemis Quartet and Quatuor Ebène, among others. The name Arod is taken from Legolas' horse from Tolkien's “Lord of the Rings”, and stands for fast, agile, strength and enthusiasm. Like Tolkien's horse, the quartet quickly took off and immediately won first prizes at well-known competitions in Paris, Copenhagen and Munich between 2014 and 2016, where the Tokyo, Artemis and Ebène quartet preceded them. These awards were cashed in between 2017 and 2019 in nominations such as BBC New Generation Artists and ECHO Rising Stars. The logical consequence is that the ensemble is now a welcome guest on major concert stages in Europe (including the Amsterdam Concertgebouw), Japan and the US. They are fellows in residence at the Fondation Singer-Polignac cultural center in Paris. The musicians have loaned their instruments, which date from the 17th and 18th centuries, from the Swiss instrument fund Fondation Boubo-Music.

Website www.quatuorarod.com

TUESDAY 10 MARCH 2026
20.15 p.m.

VAN BAERLE TRIO
with Isabelle van Keulen - Viola

PROGRAM

The Van Baerle Trio, founded in 2004, is well known in our chamber music series. They were also heard in Diligentia in 2016 and 2022. For the name of the ensemble, they sought a connection with the address of the Concertgebouw on Van Baerlestraat in Amsterdam, where they regularly perform after winning the Vriendenkring Competition in 2011 and their nomination by the Concertgebouw for the ECHO Rising Stars 2013/2014. The trio was formed under the tutelage of Dmitri Ferschtmann and met Menahem Pressler in 2008, for whom the ensemble has played several times since.
Since 2014, the members of the trio have been affiliated with the conservatory in Amsterdam.
This time they perform together with Isabelle van Keulen (1966), now as a violist, she plays the violin powerfully even with ease. She attaches great importance to her versatility. She plays chamber music in many forms, is the leader of chamber orchestras and is also on stage as a soloist together with practical orchestras, such as the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. Many still know her as artistic director of the Delft Chamber Music Festival (1997-2006).

Website: www.vanbaerletrio.com and www.isabellevankeulen.com

TUESDAY 21 APRIL 2026
20.15 p.m.

ANIMATO QUARTET en
QUATUOR DANEL

PROGRAM

Finally, this season features the much-famed Animato Quartet from our own country, which has been winning prizes since its formation in 2013. To start with, the quartet reached the final in the Grachtenfestival Conservatorium Competition in 2014 as an audience favorite. In 2020 and 2024 it was present at the Amsterdam String Quartet Biennale. And after a strict selection as one of the four laureates of the Dutch Classical Talent Award 2021-2022, it was rewarded with the Kersjes Prize in 2023. According to the jury, four players who each use their individual expression to create a layered, intense game with a broad color palette as an ensemble.
This time, Animato has sought collaboration with the French Quatuor Danel, which is returning to Diligentia for the fifth time! The quartet was founded in 1991. It is and remains a close-knit ensemble, even after the cellist was replaced (2014). From the very beginning, it has been at the forefront of international music life with highly acclaimed performances worldwide. The quartet is artist-in-residence at the University of Manchester.






Website: www.animatokwartet.nl/a> and www.quatuordanel.eu