Proquartetto, a non-profit organization, is committed to actively supporting contemporary creation.
The organization regularly commissions new quartets from Belgian and international composers. These works are premiered at the Les Voix Intimes festival, with the composers in attendance.
Among the world premieres of recent years, we can mention String Quartet No. 2 (Flight and Death of a Butterfly) by Pierre Bartholomée, String Quartet No. 9 Opus 140 by Nicolas Bacri, and String Quartet No. 10 (Landscapes for a Lost Angel) by Walter Hus.
Between 2021 and 2023, the non-profit organization hosted its first International String Quartet Composition Competition, pursuing a dual objective: to support a creative field particularly weakened by the effects of the health crisis, and to enrich contemporary quartet literature by encouraging composers to explore this prestigious (and often daunting) area of chamber music. Candidates were invited to submit scores and demos of original works, lasting between 10 and 20 minutes. No fewer than 76 original works were received by the association, from 31 countries worldwide – from Japan to Chile, including the United States, Mexico, Germany, Peru, and Italy. These scores were reviewed by a jury of composers and music lovers, whose selections were announced in December 2022. On February 18, 2023, the awards ceremony provided an opportunity to applaud the laureates Andrea Portera (Italy), Simon Thiérée (Belgium/France), and Parvoslav Kohout (Czech Republic), and to hear the winning works performed by the MP4 Quartet.