The Mivos Quartet, one of the world’s leading ensembles dedicated to contemporary music, bring their fearless virtuosity and adventurous spirit back to Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival 2025 with a programme that redefines what the string quartet can be. Known for championing boundary-pushing composers from across the globe, Mivos have built a reputation for performances that are as technically dazzling as they are emotionally charged — a perfect fit for a festival where innovation takes centre stage.

At the heart of their Huddersfield appearance is the World Premiere of The Trees Are Talking by Finnish composer Ville Raasakka. Written for quartet and electronics, the work explores hidden systems of resonance and communication within the natural world, transforming scientific curiosity into an immersive soundscape that feels at once fragile, mysterious and deeply human.

Surrounding this landmark premiere are three striking works that showcase the breadth of today’s string quartet writing. Estonian composer Madli Marje Gildemann’s Feathered Mirrors (2024) shimmers with lightness and reflection, its textures alive with flickering detail. Lithuanian composer Raminta Šerkšnytė’s Oriental Elegy offers meditative stillness, drawing listeners into a state of luminous contemplation. By contrast, Diné composer and esteemed winner of the Pulitzer Prize Raven Chacon’s The Journey of the Horizontal People is visceral and ritualistic – a raw, powerful exploration of endurance, migration and collective memory.

Together, these works create a programme that is both expansive and intimate, affirming the Mivos Quartet as one of the most vital ensembles of our time — and offering hcmf// audiences a rare chance to experience the string quartet as a site of bold experimentation and transformative listening.

Program:

Ville Aslak Raasakka (Finland, 1977) – The Trees are Talking (2025) 25’ World Premiere

Madli Marje Gildemann (Estonia, 1994) – Feathered Mirrors (2024) 7’ UK Premiere

Raven Chacon (Navajo Nation, 1977) – The Journey of the Horizontal People (2016) 9’

Raminta Šerkšnytė (Lithuania, 1975) – Oriental Elegy/Rytų elegija (2002; edited 2003) 12’ UK Premiere