The Arditti Quartet is a string quartet founded in 1974. The quartet is associated particularly with contemporary music. 　　  　　The quartet was founded in 1974 by violinist Irvine Arditti together with John Senter, Levine Andrade and Lenox Mackenzie. Many string quartets and other chamber works have been written for the ensemble.Template:See official website link/repertoire. 　　  　　The group has given hundreds of world premieres and some of the most important composers include Thomas Adès, Louis Andriessen, Georges Aperghis, Harrison Birtwistle, Benjamin Britten, John Cage, Elliott Carter, Edison Denisov, James Dillon, Hugues Dufourt, Pascal Dusapin, Ivan Fedele, Morton Feldman, Brian Ferneyhough, Luca Francesconi, Francisco Guerrero, Sofia Gubaidulina, Jonathan Harvey, Toshio Hosokawa, Klaus Huber, Mauricio Kagel, György Kurtág, Helmut Lachenmann, György Ligeti, Bruno Maderna, Philippe Manoury, Conlon Nancarrow, Roger Reynolds, Wolfgang Rihm, Giacinto Scelsi, Salvatore Sciarrino, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Iannis Xenakis. 　　  　　Ethos 　　  　　The ensemble believes that close collaboration with composers is vital to the process of interpreting modern music and therefore attempts to work with every composer whose music it plays. The players commitment to educational work is exemplified by their masterclasses and workshops for young performers and composers all over the world. From 1982 to 1996 the quartet’s members were resident string tutors at the Darmstadt Summer Courses for New Music. 　　  　　Recordings 　　  　　The Arditti Quartet’s extensive discography now features over 180 CDs. Forty-two discs have been released as part of the ensemble’s series on the French label Naïve Montaigne. The series presents numerous contemporary composer features as well as the first digital recordings of the complete Second Viennese Schools string quartet music. Stockhausen’s Helicopter Quartet is to be found here. As well as many composer portraits recorded in their presence, the complete quartets of Luciano Berio were recorded shortly before his death. The quartet have recorded for more than 20 other labels and some of the latest releases on the Aeon label include the complete string quartets by Harvey, Dusapin, Birtwistle and Gerhard. 　　  　　Recognition 　　  　　Over the past 25 years, the ensemble has received many prizes for its work. They have won the Deutsche Schallplatten Preis several times and the Gramophone Award for the best recording of contemporary music in 1999 (Elliott Carter) and 2002 (Harrison Birtwistle). The prestigious Ernst von Siemens Music Prize was awarded to them in 1999 for "lifetime achievement" in music. The complete archive of the quartet is housed in the Sacher Stiftung in Basle, Switzerland. 　　  　　Members 　　  　　Irvine Arditti (violin) 1974- 　　Ashot Sarkissjan (violin) 2005- 　　Ralf Ehlers (viola) 2003- 　　Lucas Fels (cello) 2006- 　　  　　Previous members 　　  　　Violin 2 　　  　　Lennox Mackenzie 1974-1983 　　Alexander Balanescu 1983-85 　　David Alberman 1985-1994 　　Graeme Jennings 1994-2005 　　  　　Viola 　　  　　Levine Andrade 1974-1990 　　Garth Knox 1990-1997 　　Dov Scheindlin 1997-2002 　　  　　Cello 　　  　　John Senter 1974-1976 　　Helen Liebmann 1976-77 　　Rohan de Saram 1977-2005