Georgian State String Quartet

In 1966, the Georgian State String Quartet  was founded by Konstantin Vardeli (Director and 1st Violin), Tamas Batiashvili (2nd Violin), Nodar Zhvanja (Viola) and Otar Chubinishvili (Cello), all of them graduated from the State Conservatory in Tbilisi and have since played in numerous orchestras. They are considered exceptional soloists whenever and wherever they play. As members of the Georgian State String Quartet they are known not only as outstanding interpreters of composed world literature but also as excellent performers of works by composers from the Caucasus region and especially those from Georgia. Thus the listener has the unique opportunity to hear native Georgians perform works of those composers from the Near East, who are unknown in the West. The Georgian State String Quartet first impressed the listening public with their high ranged interpretations at the 1973 Leo-Weiner-Contest in Budapest. Soon after that they won the Zakhary Paliashvili Prize, the highest musical honor in Georgia, and in 1980 they were named «National Artists of the USSR», the highest Soviet honor. They have won many other prizes worldwide as well. The four members of the ensemble are all professors at the State Conservatory in Tbilisi and live in their homeland.