Beneath the fresh young faces of the four dynamic members of the Consone Quartet - Agata Daraskaite and Magdalena Loth-Hill (violins), Louisa Tatlow (viola) and George Ross (cello) - lies a depth of passion and dedication to classical and early romantic music that is breathtaking. Already their hard work is reaping its rewards, as in a remarkably short space of time they have achieved an impressive level of recognition. Concerts in the West audiences will be able to see the quartet's professionalism and energy in action for themselves at venues in Devon, Dorset and Somerset, from 3-5 December 2015.

The Consone Quartet's talent has already been spotted, as in July 2015, at the annual York Early Music International Young Artists Competition at the National Centre for Early Music, these outstanding young musicians were awarded The EUBO Development Trust Prize. Their entry in the competition also netted them another worthwhile prize - a place on the Eeemerging European Ensembles programme, led by the Centre cultural de recanter d'Ambronay, which is designed to support young ensembles and to allow them the time to learn the important skills of ensemble playing. In 2013 the Consone Quartet was awarded the Century Fund Prize in the RCM Historical Performance Competition.

Concerts in the West's founder and director, Catherine Hodgson, said: "These wonderful musicians don't restrict themselves to playing on only period instruments, each member of the quartet is also a modern string player, which clearly demonstrates their versatile accomplishments. Despite their young ages, they are all highly professional musicians with many performances at top level venues and reams of awards"

The Quartet are already in demand, having performed for the BBC programme, "Between the ears," which was broadcast on Radio 3. They have also participated in master classes with Lucy Russell, Catherine Martin, Jean Patterson (a member of Florilegium) and Ironwood (Australia). They have recorded works by Giovanni Antonio Giaj and Daniel Castrovillari with the Ballo Baroque Ensemble. In April 2014 they performed with the Arakaendar Choir in Bolivia.

Who's who in the Consone Quartet
Lithuanian-Polish violinist Agata Daraskaite began playing the violin at the age of six and made her solo debut four years later. A prize winner of ten national and international youth competitions Agata moved to England to study at the Yehudi Menuhin School in 2003. Since then she has been performing solo and chamber music regularly across the UK and in Europe. In 2009 she performed at the Queen Elizabeth Hall as part of the London Philharmonic Orchestra’s “Between Two Worlds: Alfred Schnittke” festival with Vladimir Jurowski conducting. In 2012 as a RCM Concerto Competition winner, she performed Berg’s violin concerto with the RCM Symphony Orchestra. Agata took up the baroque violin at the start of her Masters studies and has since been exploring historical repertoire on it, focussing mainly on the classical and early romantic eras. In March 2015 HRH The Prince of Wales presented her with the Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Rosebowl at the Royal College of Music's annual awards.

The winner of numerous awards and prizes, violinist Magdalena Loth-Hill is currently in her final year of the Master of Performance course at the RCM, studying under Itzhak Rashkovsky and Lucy Russell. She is an Orpheus Scholar, generously supported by a Douglas and Hilda Simmonds Award, the Countess of Munster Musical Trust, the Seary Trust and the Kathleen Trust. Magdalena has recorded music for the forthcoming ABRSM syllabus and for the “Georgians Revealed” exhibition at the British Library. She led RCM baroque players live on BBC Radio 3 In Tune and has performed in Italy, France, Germany and Bolivia. Magdalena has performed at numerous venues including Buckingham Palace, the Wigmore Hall, the Royal Festival Hall and the Kennedy Center in Washington DC. She is a participant in the 2015 OAE scheme.

In 2014, Louisa Tatlow graduated in 2014 with an MMus from the Guildhall School of Music of Drama where she studied viola with Krzysztof Chorzelski. Prior to this, she attended the Royal College of Music in London where she gained a BMus with first class honours in 2013, studying under Susie Meszaros and Levon Chilingirian. While at the RCM she won numerous prizes including the RCM String Competition: Viola Prize (2011), the String Quartet Competition with the Arbellio String Quartet (2012) and the Early Music Competition with the Consone String Quartet (2013).
Louisa was accepted for the London Symphony Orchestra String Experience Scheme 2012/13, and the experience scheme of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment 2014. She is now being offered extra work with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. As one of the founding members of the O/Modernt Chamber Orchestra in Stockholm, Louisa is enjoying exploring new and exciting chamber orchestra repertoire.

Cellist George Ross studied at the Purcell School with Alexander Boyarsky and is currently doing a Masters at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague. He has won many distinguished prizes and in 2009 he was awarded the Pierre Fournier prize. In the same year he was awarded a scholarship to the Royal College of Music continuing to work with Boyarsky on modern cello and Richard Tunnicliffe on baroque. He has performed at the Wigmore Hall as a soloist and in chamber groups on many occasions. As a continuo player and period cellist, he has performed with the Ballo Baroque ensemble in Germany, Les Bougies Baroques in Malta, the Herschel Ensemble in the London Handel Festival, The Lawes Baroque Players, the Carillon Choir, Florilegium and with the Orchestra of then Age of Enlightenment. Last year George was chosen to be a part of the Ann and Peter Law OAE Experience Scheme 2014 and is now on the Handel House Talent Scheme 2015.

Musical Programme - Consone Quartet: Schubert Overture in C minor D8a; Beethoven Quartet in G major Op 18 No 2; Schubert a selection of Minuets and German Dances D89 & D90; Mozart Quartet in F major K590.

Box Office: 01392 667080

Tickets: £15. Concessions for students and children.