Saturday September 19th 2026, 7:30pm
Leda Mileto, Violin I
Christopher Karwacinski, Violin II
Beth Willett, Viola
Alec Smith, Cello
Adrienne Spilsbury: day, turning
Joseph Haydn: Op. 50 No. 6 ‘The Frog’
Caroline Shaw: Valencia
Maurice Ravel: String Quartet
Since their formation at the Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM) in 2021, the Aestus Quartet have been recognised for their warmth and sensitive musical approach. The name “Aestus” is Latin for sea tide and is inspired by the opening of Benjamin Britten’s String Quartet No. 2 — the first piece the group performed together.
They are recipients of the John Lawrence Field award, RNCM Weil Prize, they were shortlisted for the 2024 RPS — Royal Philharmonic Society Henderson Chamber Ensemble Award, and they were selected as semi-finalists for the 2025 Royal Over-Seas League competition.
Mentored by Donald Grant (Elias Quartet) through their postgraduate studies, they are currently studying with Gabriel Le Magadure (Quatuor Ébène) at the Sergej Rachmaninoff Conservatoire in Paris.
In the 2023-2024 season, the Aestus were the RNCM Studio Quartet and Britten Pears Young Artists (Chamber Futures Residency, March 2024). They gave the closing performance of the 2024 RPS Awards in collaboration with Instrumentalist of the Year winner, Jasdeep Singh Degun. The Aestus have performed at the 2023 Festival Ravel Academy (France), 2024 Pergolesi Spontini Festival with pianist Keigo Mukawa (Italy), 2024 Oxford Chamber Music Festival Studio, 2024 Winchester Chamber Music Festival (Emerging Resident Ensemble), 2024 Charlotte Norton Concert at Stoller Hall (Manchester Chamber Concerts Society), and 2023 Lake District Music Emerging Artist Series.
In the summer of 2025 the Aestus performed at the Aldeburgh Festival in a masterclass with the Doric Quartet. They also featured as the Ambassador Ensemble in the Lake District Music Festival and made an appearance at King’s Lynn Festival. Later in the year they performed at Kings Place and Lavethan in masterclasseswith Krysia Osostowicz and Donald Grant, for Chamber Studio UK.
Alec Smith joined the quartet as their new cellist in September 2025. Alec is a cellist from Leicester, previously performing as a chamber musician with the Innsaei String Quartet and Kagura Piano trio. Since graduating from the RNCM in 2020, Alec has travelled internationally as a musician, performing for audiences across Europe and America taking pride in his ability as a cross-genre musician. Recently, Alec has returned to Manchester and is very excited to start his journey as a chamber musician with the Aestus Quartet, reuniting with his old friend Beth Willett on viola.