"These four players showed some of the best qualities of the venerated Russian cello tradition, namely lustrous tone combined with soulful expression"

A singularly unique ensemble, the RASTRELLI CELLO QUARTET has been thrilling audiences with their renderings of non-traditional programming since 2002.

Kira Kraftzoff - founder and artistic director, Kirill Timofeev, Misha Degtjareff and Sergio Drabkin formed the ensemble with a mission to perform music “between the genres,” and their widely varied programs mix comfortably works by Bach, Saint-Saens  and Tchaikovsky with that of George Gershwin, Dave Brubeck and Leroy Anderson.  The name of the Quartet is taken from the eighteenth-century architect Bartholomew Rastrelli, who designed the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, the home city of three of the four Quartet members.

The Rastrelli have performed in many of Europe’s great concert halls, including the Gasteig in Munich, Konzerthaus Vienna, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, St. Petersburg’s Philharmonic Hall, Bulgaria Hall Sofia, the Liederhalle Stuttgart, Leiszhall Hamburg und Mariinsky Theater St. Petersburg.   In addition to concert tours in Europe, the USA and Russia, the Rastrelli performs at such summer music festivals as the Beethoven Festival Bonn, Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, Darmstadter Festspiele, Branderburgische Sommerkonzerte, Oberstdorfer Musiksommer, Hohenlohe Kultursommer, Rheingau Musikfestival, Ohridsko Leto (Macedonia) and the Meadowlark Music Festival USA, cooperated with Giora Feidman, David Geringas and Gilles Apap.

Broadcasted by: NBC, SWR, BR, HR, ABC, Chicago Classic FM and many others.

The Rastrelli Quartet currently has five recordings (Rastrelli, Volumes 1-5) on the Solo Musica, TonArt and Manchester labels, as well as a 2008 release with music by Piazzolla entitled “Cello in Buenos-Aires.”

In 2009, the Rastrelli Quartet’s CD “Cello in Classic” was nominated for a Russian Grammy and was given a second prize award.