The Shostakovich Quartet was a string quartet formed in September 1966 at the Moscow Conservatory, and which continued to perform for some 47 years (with varied line-up, but with the original 'cellist, Alexander Korchagin, remaining throughout) until the start of 2014.[1]
The quartet was formed at the department of chamber ensemble and quartet in the class of R.R. Davidyan, by fourth-year students Andrei Shishlov, Alexander Balashov, Alexei Dyachkov and Alexander Korchagin. In their first concert on April 1, 1967 in the White Hall of the Conservatory (now the Myaskovsky Concert Hall), the musicians performed the first quartet of Beethoven, the third quartet of Hindemith and the fifth quartet of Shostakovich. In November 1967, the ensemble received the first prize at the Competition of the Moscow Conservatory and the Union of Composers of the USSR, dedicated to the 50th anniversary of the Soviet state. In 1968, the Quartet was admitted to an assistantship-internship for four full-time places (supervisor - R.R.Davidyan). At the same time, they were invited to work in the Moscow Regional Philharmonic.[1] A few years later, the cellist and quartetist, Professor Sergei Shirinsky, a member of the Beethoven Quartet, played a significant role in the formation of the young ensemble.[2]
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