Terem Quartet

The ensemble was created in 1986 as a project of four St. Petersburg Conservatory students: Andrey Konstantinov (soprano domra), Andrey Smirnov (bayan), Mikhail Dzudze (double bass balalaika) and Igor Ponomarenko (alto domra). At one time the students were called up for military service. After the first year of this service they were transferred to the local army ensemble which consisted of orchestra, choir and ballet. Some time later an idea to create a new ensemble was born and this one was called "Russian Souvenir". At this time it consisted of a big number of participants and many of them were not able to read musical notes that it why musicians tried to find a special language: they picked out some well-known music pieces and combined them with folk melodies. Then the first line-up of Terem Quartet was formed: Andrey Konstantinov, Andrey Smirnov, Mikhail Dzudze and Igor Ponomarenko.

At this time we promised each other that just the ensemble will be the main thing for all of us. We have already understood that we are interesting only when we are together. Our "Terem" is not just a beautiful building. There are no chiefs for us, everyone does his bit and it forms what we are building. In our music we unite different genres under one roof. Terem is open for guests, we are always glad to see them[1] (Andrey Konstantinov)

The first concert took place on 26 November 1986 on the stage of music teachers training college. According to Andrey Konstantinov, at the end of the performance the audience stood up and musicians understood that their choice was right.[1] Since that time, November 26 is considered to be the birthday of the ensemble.

In 1988 Terem Quartet was invited to take part in "White Nights" festival in Hamburg. Here musicians performed with Mariinsky Theatre soloist Vladimir Chernov, ballerina Lubov Kunakova and pianist Pavel Egorov. Also in that year director Igor Vladimirov proposed to write music for performance "Love till Death" (Lubov do Groba).

In 1989 Melodiya released the first LP record of the ensemble - "Terem Quartet". At this time Terem Quartet began to cooperate with St. Petersburg State Academic Capella. Besides the ensemble began to give performances abroad: in Germany, Spain, Sweden, Italy and People's Republic of China. This year musicians received diplomas of higher education in music.

In 1991 Terem Quartet was invited to take part in Womad. Within the bounds of this event musicians performed on one stage with Peter Gabriel, Sinéad O'Connor, Suzanne Vega and Led Zeppelin. At Peter Gabriel's instance Real World Records recorded the first CD of the ensemble - "The Terem". This Cd was released in 1992. Allmusic Guide gives 4.5 stars to it: "The Quartet's eccentric approach transforms everything it touches into shades of humor and delight[2]". In the next years Terem Quartet repeatedly performed on Womad.

In 1994 Pope John Paul II invited Terem-Quartet to Vatican. Here at the "Family Day" holiday they gave concert to 120-thousand audience. Among the listeners was Mother Teresa who blessed the musicians and presented them medallions.[3] This year two cds were released: "Classical" and "1000 concert" (1000-й концерт). The first one was released by "Real World Records" and received its name after Mozart's, Schubert's, Glinka's and Chopin's pieces in it. The second is a recording of the 1000 concert in Saint Petersburg Philharmonia and it was released on Terem-Quartet label.

In 1998 Terem-Quartet performed on Edinburgh festival and solo concerts of the ensemble received the highest mark of "Scotsman" newspaper.[4] This year Terem-Quartet took part in performance of Anton Chekhov's work and this one was awarded the highest theatrical prize "Golden Soffit" (Zolotoy Sophit).

In 1999 within the bounds of Alexander Pushkin 300-anniversary celebration Terem Quartet played Alexander Chaikovsky's opera in St. James's Palace. Among the listeners was Prince Charles. This year two Cds were released: «No, Russia cannot be perceived by wit» ("Intuition" Label) produced by Giovanni Amighetti is awarded 4 stars by Allmusic: "These classically-trained musicians exhibit masterful technique at their tools. The sounds they make seem to arise from an ensemble much greater than a quartet. Subtle, inventive, and gifted with a sense of humor, their gypsy turns thrill and enthrall".[5] The second - "Flea Waltz" (Sobachy Vals) was released by Bomba-Piter and mostly consists of classical compositions adapted by the ensemble.

In 2000, the line-up underwent changes: Igor Ponomarenko was replaced by Alexey Barshchev. That year, National Geographic Society shot a film about Terem Quartet.

In 2001, the ensemble celebrated its 15th anniversary. For the occasion, a great Russia tour (50 concerts) and release of Jubillenium CD were organized.

In 2002, Bomba-Piter released a three-CD compilation: Anthology I, "Anthology II" and "Anthology III". Besides the Russian Sufferings album was released.

In 2003, Terem Quartet organized its own world music festival in St. Petersburg. It comprised five concerts: Dora Shwarzberg (Austria), Sexteto Canyengue (Netherlands), Boris Berezovsky, Martin Frost (Sweden) and Ural Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Dmitry Liss. The next year, the second festival was set up. That one comprised four concerts: Vladimir Chernov, Sexteto Canyengue, The Real Group (Sweden), Richard Galliano and Michelle Portal (France). The third festival took place in 2005 and comprised three concerts among which, one was of Swingle Singers.

In 2004 three CDs were released: Terem Quartet and Friends (featuring Remake ensemble, Vladimir Chernov, Joji Hirota, Svetlana Kruchkova, Dora Shwarzberg, Igor Sharapov, Arkady Shilkloper and Igor Dmitriev), "2000-th concert" (recording of the concert in Saint Petersburg Philharmonia on 25 March 2004) and "Neapolitan Songs" (joint project with Vladimir Chernov).

In 2006 Terem Quartet was invited to take part in several political events: Russia-Singapore Forum in Singapore and G8 summit in Saint Petersburg. On 28 June Terem Quartet for the first time performed with ballet and, in the period 24–27 November, the fourth world music festival was organized. During its long life, the ensemble traveled a lot and in October 2007 the concert in the 60th country (South Korea) was performed.

On 5 April 2008 Terem Quartet organized a forum in which musicians all over the world represented their native countries: Great Britain (Swingle Singers), France (Bratch), Scotland (Shooglenifty), Sweden (Real Group), Iceland (Diddú), Japan (Joji Hirota) and Russia (Yuri Shevchuk, Igor Butman and Pelageya Khanova). Also this year the «Diddu og Terem» was released. All vocal parts were recorded by Diddú.

In 2009, Terem Quartet opened the Eurovision second semi-final in Moscow. For this event, musicians prepared 6-minute potpourri of songs-winners of this competition ("Waterloo" by ABBA, "Volare", "Diva" by Dana International, "Believe" by Dima Bilan and Ding-A-Dong by Teach-In). This year the DVD "Terem Quartet or Imperceptibles" (Terem-Quartet Y Snova Neulovimiye) was released. It comprises compositions from popular Soviet movies, Charlie Chaplin's ones and Mission: Impossible Theme.

In 2010, with the assistance of Saint Petersburg government and Ministry of Culture, Terem Quartet organized First TEREM CROSSOVER International Music Competition in St. Petersburg.