Winner of the 1988 London International String Quartet Competition and now in its twenty-first concert season, the RTÉ Vanbrugh Quartet is one of Europe's most successful quartets, widely recognised for its beauty of sound, clarity of texture and integrity of interpretation.

The Quartet is based in Cork as Resident Quartet to Radio Telefis Eireann, Ireland's national broadcasting service; the members of the Quartet are also Artists in Residence to University College, Cork, and founders of the internationally acclaimed West Cork Chamber Music Festival. In April 2005 the Quartet hosted European Quartet Week, as part of Cork's tenure as European Capital of Culture. The RTÉ Vanbrugh Quartet's current overseas season includes concerts in the UK, the USA, Italy, Austria, Estonia and China.

Hyperion recently released the second of two Vanbrugh Quartet CDs of chamber music by Charles Villiers Stanford (“alive with melodic invention and supremely crafted… consistently stylish playing” Classic FM magazine). The Quartet’s recent recording of three of Boccherini’s cello quintets, on Hyperion, was featured as Editor’s Choice in Gramophone magazine (“delectable, sophisticated, nostalgic”); other recent CDs include Metronome’s second CD devoted to the music of Piers Hellawell, a Black Box release of Ian Wilson's three quartets and a recording for Hyperion of works for quartet and soprano by John Tavener. They join a discography of twenty-two releases which includes the complete Beethoven Quartets (“mighty impressive throughout” BBC Music Magazine) and works by Haydn, Schubert, Dvorak, Janacek, Dohnanyi, E.J. Moeran, Robert Simpson, John Tavener, John McCabe, John Kinsella, Raymond Deane, Brian Boydell and Walter Beckett.