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Ronald Birks
A highly regarded veteran of the global chamber music community, Ronald Birks began taking violin lessons at the age of ten. He progressed rapidly, becoming a member of the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain in 1959. Between 1966-69 he was a student at the Royal Manchester College of Music, during which time he studied the quartet repertoire with Alexandre Moskovsky, formerly of the Hungarian String Quartet.
Ronnie became a member of the Northern Sinfonia Orchestra in
1969, and spent two years with them. In 1971 he was invited to
become second violin of the Lindsay String Quartet, with whom he
remained until the quartet's retirement in 2005.
Highlights of Ronnie's career with the LSQ included performance of
complete Beethoven cycles in many major cities of the world,
recording two complete Beethoven cycles and all six Bartok
quartets, and working intensively with Sir Michael Tippett on the
interpretation, performance, and recording of his five string
quartets. In late 2009, Ronnie was invited to become a member of
the Chilingirian String Quartet, with a public debut at the
Quartet's appearances in Venezuela in January 2010