North Sea String Quartet
Electronic Press Kit - 2025
Genre
Jazz
Classical
Experimental
Members
George Dumitriu
violin/viola
Pablo Rodríguez
violin
Yanna Pelser
viola
Thomas van Geelen
cello
Upcoming Performances
July 10, 2025
Ambrose Akinmusire ft. North Sea String Quartet
Funchal Jazz 2025
, Funchal
Portugal
July 13, 2025
Ambrose Akinmusire ft. North Sea String Quartet
North Sea Jazz Festival
, Rotterdam
The Netherlands
July 23, 2025
NSSQ Workshop @ Jonge Strijkers Zomerkamp 2025
Nyenrode Business Universiteit
, Breukelen
The Netherlands
January 30, 2026
North Sea String Quartet ft. Engegård Quartet
String Quartet Biennale Amsterdam
, Amsterdam
The Netherlands
The North Sea String Quartet is the Dutch jazz string quartet of the moment. The improvising string players shine a new light on the time-honored string quartet through their outspoken improvisations, innovative playing styles and idiosyncratic compositions, inspired by jazz, global, contemporary classical and EDM. In doing so, they build on a young tradition that began with the American Turtle Island Quartet in 1985.
The quartet has been active internationally for many years, notably in collaborations with artists such as Trio da Kali (ML), Ambrose Akinmusire (US), Tim Conley (US), Alessandro Fongaro (IT), Roland Satterwhite (US), Lilian Vieira (BR), Javier Infante (ES) and Samora Pinderhughes (US), and has played at major concert halls and festivals such as North Sea Jazz, Het Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Bimhuis, Ateneu Bucharest, Salzburg Jazz & the City, Sparks and Vision and Canarias Jazz & Más.
Aside from performing, the members of the quartet attach great value to inspiring the next generation of string players. They have lead multiple workshops on improvisation for young musicians in and outside of the Netherlands. In 2019, together with world renowned jazz violinist and pedagogue Tim Kliphuis, they founded the Academy of Improvising Strings, an annual workshop weekend in the Netherlands, with a first edition especially for teenagers in 2022.
“The North Sea String Quartet from the Netherlands stood out for their originality, discourse and freedom. […] Without a score but with a framework that feels very written and very in place, the four cheerful musicians evoke beautiful images, precise and rhythmic, with magnificent passages where the intertwined strings bewitch the audience.” Matthieu Jouan, CitizenJazz (FR)
“There was a real joy and fantastic empathy in the way North Sea String Quartet combined compositions and improvisation.” Sebastian Scotney, UK jazz news (UK)
“The NSSQ was a source of amazement. Beyond cramped crossover-derivatives, jazz for four strings was celebrated here at the highest level of chamber music interplay.” Juan Martin Koch, Neue Musikzeitung (DE)
“Beyond their technical prowess, the musicians conveyed an approachable and humble energy, leaving a warm and authentic impression on the audience.” Jose Cabello Llano, In & Out Jazz (ES)
