Isla String Quartet & Jamie Cochrane
Lineup
About the Event
The Isla String Quartet and pianist Jamie Cochrane share an evening spanning four centuries — from Purcell’s contrapuntal fantasias to Bartók’s masterful fourth Quartet, with Schubert, Chopin and Godowsky’s mighty Passacaglia between.
This concert traces a compelling arc from the 17th century to the modernist heart of the 20th. The Isla String Quartet opens with two of Purcell’s Fantasias in Four Parts, intricate contrapuntal miniatures that showcase his mastery of imitative writing, before turning to Schubert’s Quartettsatz in C minor — a singlemovement fragment charged with restless energy.
Pianist Jamie Cochrane then takes the stage with Schubert’s Impromptu in G-flat major, a study in songful simplicity, followed by Godowsky’s monumental Passacaglia — a dazzling and virtuosic set of variations on the opening theme of Schubert’s “Unfinished” Symphony.
After the interval, Cochrane returns with Chopin’s Polonaise-Fantaisie, one of his most searching and structurally daring late works, blending improvisatory freedom with the noble stride of the polonaise.
The evening closes with the Isla String Quartet performing Bartók’s String Quartet No. 4 — a landmark of 20th-century chamber music, its symmetrical five-movement arch encompassing night-music atmospherics, folk-inflected energy, and visceral, percussive string writing that redefined the quartet medium.
This event will last approximately 90 minutes, with an interval.
About The Isla String Quartet
The Isla String Quartet gained international recognition when they won First Prize, the Audience Prize, and a Special Prize for the best interpretation of a Haydn Quartet at the 2nd International String Quartet Competition in Bad Tölz in April 2026. As Tillett Debut Artists 2025-27, the Isla String Quartet are performing in venues across the UK including Conway Hall, Kings Place and Hexham Abbey. They were recently selected for the Tunnell Trust Music Club Award Scheme and are looking forward to their Scotland concert tour in 2027. Other competition success includes First Prize at both the Royal College of Music Quartet Competition 2025 and the inaugural Royal Academy of Music Nina Drucker Haydn String Quartet Competition 2024.
About Jamie Cochrane
With playing of ‘immense musical flair and consummate artistry’ praised for its ‘combination of delicacy and vigour’, Jamie Cochrane is equally at home as a concerto soloist, song accompanist or chamber musician. He is keen to bring music to a wide audience, programming less widely-performed works
alongside audience favourites. A Tillett Trust Debut Artist, his recent successes include prizes at the Bromsgrove International Musicians’ Competition 2025 and the 2024 Norah Sande Award. Jamie has performed at venues such as the Royal Albert Hall and the Sheldonian Theatre, Oxford, as well as internati