WHEN WORK AND FRIENDSHIP COME TOGETHER

On our blog, we always share our musical adventures, tell you the details of our projects, and try to publish interviews and other material of interest to the world of chamber music. Today, we bring you a more personal article in which our friendship takes center stage. How important are concepts such as admiration, commitment, or love to Lítore Quartet? To answer this question, we’ve reflected together and want to share those thoughts in this article.

Lítore Quartet during one of their summer tours in Galicia. Views of the mouth of the Miño River from “O Cervo” in Vila Nova de Cerveira, Portugal. 2022

What three values, attitudes, or skills do you admire in your fellow Lítore members?

We first asked ourselves this question to start our reflections. We firmly believe that admiration for others is one of the essential values for the development of the group, and at the same time, a powerful learning tool. Each of us is different and stands out in certain attitudes or abilities, which gives us the opportunity to learn from one another.

What do Hugo, Jaime, and Miquel admire about SIRA? 

Her perseverance, ambition, work ethic, ability to manage every aspect of life, ability to bring out her best in high-pressure situations, charisma, tenacity, and collaborative spirit.

What do Jaime, Miquel, and Sira admire about HUGO? 

His unique sensitivity, sense of humor, musical personality, tolerance toward others, general knowledge, ability to perform his best in concerts, camaraderie, and flexibility.

What do Miquel, Sira, and Hugo admire about JAIME? 

His reliability, diplomacy, assertiveness, calmness, honesty, eagerness to learn, curiosity, the sense of security he brings, and perfectionism.

What do Sira, Hugo, and Jaime admire about MIQUEL? 

His social skills, work discipline, creativity during rehearsals, good humor, honesty, ability to give good advice, collaborative mindset, musical flexibility, boldness, and ingenuity.

Lítore Quartet and our beloved Ángela celebrating Miquel’s 23rd birthday. Palma de Mallorca, 2022

How important has Lítore Quartet been in your professional life? And in your personal life? You can mention any relevant example, anecdote, or situation.

The importance of Lítore Quartet in our lives—both professionally and personally—has been (and still is) profound. Everything this project has involved has impacted all areas of our lives and created strong, deep-rooted connections.

PROFESSIONALLY 

Lítore Quartet has helped us significantly develop our technical and interpretative skills, enabled the realization of ambitious projects, introduced us to the music industry, helped us build networks with other artists, taught us economic and artistic management skills, given us artistic exposure, and helped us discover our own creative interests. We all agree that these lessons would have been impossible to achieve individually. It’s clear that unity is strength, and that four people rowing in the same direction makes the journey much smoother and more fruitful.

PERSONALLY 

Lítore Quartet has brought us a deep friendship, countless intense and emotionally meaningful experiences, the development of social skills, and values such as empathy and respect. It has also given us the opportunity to better understand ourselves through others. We all share the feeling that we are bound by a “family” bond. Our friendship and trust have grown so strong—especially after living together for several years—that we see one another as members of the same family.

An anecdote that clearly shows our personal bond happened a couple of years ago in Switzerland. Miquel tells it:

“The personal anecdote I remember the most was in Switzerland, when, during preparations for the most important competition of the season, I had to be hospitalized urgently. For obvious reasons, we had to stop our activity and cancel our participation in the competition. Despite this setback, my three companions were with me all day, every day. They wouldn’t leave me alone—so annoying! Jokes aside, I want to take this opportunity to thank them again for everything they did for me that week, especially the hardest task of all: calming down my parents.”

Lítore Quartet during their November 2022 tour. In the background, the Guadiana River.

How would you like the personal relationship between the members of Lítore to be in five years?

It’s always difficult to imagine the future, especially from our current situation, as we’re still finishing our studies and don’t yet have a stable job. We will fight for the project to keep going strong—stronger even—always rooted in well-being and friendship as the engine of our development.

All four of us want to maintain our friendship, loyalty, and respect within the project, continue being the family we are, experience more things together, enjoy the project from a more stable professional position, overcome future obstacles successfully, and continue enjoying both the music and each other’s company.

However, we’ve also concluded that some changes could make Lítore Quartet even better: improving communication within the group, not being afraid to share disagreements or significant feelings, and being transparent in all areas.

Lítore was born as a professional project, but it has transcended that boundary and become much more. Every group activity has a vital human component that is above any professional ambition. Without a doubt, Lítore Quartet is a vital part of all our lives, and it still has much room to grow.

This was our first dinner together, after Miquel and Jaime’s entrance exams for the bachelor’s program. Palma de Mallorca, 2019.