The Vida Guitar Quartet performed at Chobham Festival 2021
The VIDA Guitar Quartet brings together four guitarists of exceptional artistry who share a passion for chamber musi.
Mark Ashford and Amanda Cook are both internationally renowned performers in their own right, while Mark Eden and Christopher Stell are otherwise known as the Eden Stell Guitar Duo, one of the most innovative guitar duos in the world.
Since forming in 2007, VIDA has performed to critical acclaim in major UK venues including Kingʼs Place (London), The Purcell room (London), The Sage (Gateshead) and St Georgeʼs (Bristol). They are sought-after festival artists throughout the UK, Europe and North America.
In 2011 VIDA made their US debuts in Los Angeles and New York. They were artists in residence at CSU’s Summer Arts program in Monterey Bay CA in March 2012. The VIDA Guitar Quartet has appeared on some of North America’s most prestigious stages for classical guitar, including the Long Island Guitar Festival and the Allegro Guitar Series in Dallas, Fort Worth, and Las Vegas.
They have been chosen as the keynote performers for the 2015 GFA (Guitar Federation of America) Annual Conference, one of the world’s most high- profile engagements for guitarists. 2017 marked the quartets debut in China as part of the Changsha International Guitar Festival where they were invited to play the closing night’s concert.
Recordings include their acclaimed debut CD, ʻLove, the Magicianʼ, ʻRhapsodyʼ featuring works by George Gershwin, Malcolm Arnold and Adam Gorb, and “The leaves be Green”, including music by English composers such as Benjamin Britten, Vaughan Williams and Edward Elgar.
An Autumn 2017 a collaboration with Saxophonist Amy Green was ‘Bachianas’. With Bach’s Brandenburg concerto No.3 and a collection of pieces directly inspired by Bach this album also features Mendelssohn, Villa Lobos as well as two new works written for the quartet by Howard Skempton and Laura Snowdon. 2019 was a busy year for VIDA with extensive tours in the US with concerts in Arizona, Florida, South Carolina and Colorado, and in China performing in concert halls in Shanghai, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Dalian, Nanchang and Haian.
VIDA are D’Addario string classical artists.