First prize winners in the 2009 Royal Over-seas League Competition, the Solstice String Quartet is quickly gaining a reputation as one of the finest young quartets in the UK. Selected by both the Tillett Trust and Park Lane Group in 2008 the quartet made their debuts at the Wigmore Hall and Purcell Room in 2009. Established whilst studying at the Cambridge University in 2003, they held a Junior Fellowship at the IIMC in Madrid in 2008-9 where they studied with Prof. Günter Pichler of the Alban Berg Quartet. From 2009-10 they held the Leverhulme Fellowship at the Royal Academy of Music where they studied with Thomas Brandis. They currently study with ProQuartet Foundation in Paris.

The quartet has performed throughout the UK and internationally, performing at major music festivals such as Dartington, Vale of Glamorgan Festival, Canterbury 'Sounds New' Festival and Aberystwyth, and has performed live on BBC Radio 3. Highlights of the last year have included collaborations with Steven Isserlis, Tom Poster, Philip Dukes and David Campbell, Purcell Room, Wigmore Hall and Bridgewater Hall debuts and the premiere of Giles Swayne’s fourth quartet in the Cambridge Music Festival. The quartet also took part in a series of Peter Maxwell Davies' Quartets at London's Southbank. During the 2009-10 season the quartet return to the Wigmore Hall four times. Other forthcoming engagements include performances at LSO St. Luke’s, a debut at the Cheltenham Festival, the release of the film ‘An Education’ in which the quartet can be seen performing Ravel’s ‘Introduction and Allegro’, a performance in the Janáček Festival in Luhacovice, and their debut at Musée d'Orsay in Paris.

Alongside a passion for the classical quartet cannon, interest in new music is a motivating factor for the quartet; it has given premieres of major works by Joseph Phibbs, Graham Ross, John Metcalf, Richard Blackford and Giles Swayne. This is combined with educational work; the quartet has coached players at the Benslow Music Centre, at Wells Cathedral School and on the 'Da Capo' Course at ProCorda. They currently coach chamber music at King’s College, London and in August 2010 the will be the quartet in residence at the Dartington International Summer School.

The Solstice String Quartet has been fortunate to have enjoyed coaching from many eminent musicians; and have been particularly fortunate to have worked with members of the Alban Berg Quartet, Thomas Brandis, Walter Levin, Heime Müller, David Waterman, Alastair Tait and Hugh Maguire. They have a close association with the Britten-Pears Young Artists' Programme where they were quartet in residence in January 2010. In 2008 they attended the Juilliard String Quartet Seminar in New York, where they studied with the Juilliard String Quartet. The quartet are grateful to the Hattori Foundation and the Nicholas Boas Charitable Trust for their support. Jamie plays a Stradivari violin of 1728 on generous loan from the Royal Academy of Music, Helena plays a violin by Edward l'Anson, Meghan plays a viola by Ceruti from the Royal Academy of Music, and Gregor plays a cello by Thomas Dodd made in 1799.