John Gilhooly, Director of Wigmore Hall, today announced that from the 2012-13 season, the Takács Quartet will be Associate Artists at the Hall. This is a new position which is awarded on a long-term basis to senior internationally acclaimed ensembles who will be central to the venue’s chamber music output over many years.

Since taking the London audience by storm at its Wigmore debut in 1979, the Takács has enjoyed a long and much loved relationship with the city, where they will have completed seven hugely successful seasons as Southbank Centre’s Associated Artists in May 2012. With an intoxicating energy and faultless musical instincts, the Quartet is renowned for its exacting standards and hugely engaging performances, enjoying an unsurpassed reputation throughout Europe, the US, Australasia and Asia.

John Gilhooly said: “As part of a major focus on the works of Benjamin Britten at Wigmore Hall next season, the Takács Quartet will perform all three of the composer’s string quartets in December 2012. Looking forward to 2013, the Quartet will also perform celebrated works at the pinnacle of the quartet repertoire by Brahms, Haydn, Beethoven and Schubert. This pairing of some of the greatest works of the chamber music repertoire with a superlative ensemble, promises nothing less than excellence. I am very pleased to welcome back the Quartet to the Wigmore stage, and we all look forward to many marvellous years of music-making for years to come.”

Edward Dusinberre for the Takács Quartet said: “We have enjoyed immensely our work at Southbank Centre, and would like to thank very warmly Amelia Freedman, Marshall Marcus, Jude Kelly and all members of the Southbank Centre team who have looked after us so well over the years.  The opportunity to perform in a larger auditorium for such an attentive audience was one which we relished. Our joint concert with Muzsikas in 2006 will remain a highlight of our career while sharing the Beethoven cycle with the Queen Elizabeth Hall audience was a memorable journey, and we look forward to returning to Southbank Centre for special concerts in the future. Now we look forward with equal pleasure to returning to the more intimate environment of Wigmore Hall, the “cradle” of our Quartet’s career, and to re-acquainting ourselves with its wonderful acoustic, audience and atmosphere”.