Press

Ludwig Van Toronto

With a unique instrumentation of two pianos and two guitars, they’ll be bringing an eclectic program of new music.

San Diego Union Tribune

Dessner teams with French sister piano duo in the Dream House Quartet, now San Diego-bound on its first U.S. tour

Berkshire Fine Arts

The Dream House Quartet performed Dessner, Meredith Monk. Steve Reich, Philip Glass, Thom Yorke, and David Chalmin. The variety of minimalism, which Dessner suggest begins with a drone, was amply and thrillingly evident.

Brooklyn Vegan

When he's not busy with The National (whose new album First Two Pages of Frankenstein is out this Friday, 4/28), one of Bryce Dessner's many other projects is Dream House Quartet, a collaboration with pianists Katia and Marielle Labèque and composter/musician/producer David Chalmin. They made their North American live debut at NYC's Town Hall on Sunday (4/23), playing works by Meredith Monk, Anna Thorvaldsdottir, Philip Glass, Steve Reich, Thom Yorke, and Bryce and David themselves.

Cultural Attaché

Late last week I spoke with Chalmin about the Dream House Quartet, his musical partners (one of whom, Katia, has been his life partner for 20 years) and Thom Yorke of Radiohead whose Don’t Fear the Light, Part 1 & 2 is being performed on their tour. What follows are excerpts from my conversation with Chalmin that have been edited for length and clarity.

Deutsche Grammophone

Their first EP for DG features music by Chalmin, Dessner and Meredith Monk. Formed in 2018, Dream House Quartet fuses decades of musical mastery of classical and contemporary forms. Its members – world-renowned pianists Katia and Marielle Labèque; Grammy-winning guitarist, composer and founding member of The National Bryce Dessner; and composer, musician and producer David Chalmin – perform radical new commissions from visionary composers and key contemporary works of the last 50 years.

Dream House Quartet's first EP for DG features music by Chalmin, Dessner and Meredith Monk.

The New York Times

Katia and Marielle Labèque have been playing, and enlarging, the two-piano repertory for over 50 years.

The Guardian

Marielle and Katia Labèque lead a hypnotic programme that included Max Richter, The National’s Bryce Dessner and Timo Andres

Evening Standard

“The quartet settled into a surprisingly accessible performance of light and shade, during which the pair playing propulsive chords on their grand pianos tended to out-rock the scratchy, sinuous guitars.”

Pitchfork

“Electrifying pianists Katia and Marielle Labèque played a suite of old and new compositions. Bryce Dessner’s “Haven,” jumpy and shrill, with guitars that jittered up and down arpeggios, and pianos that promised redemption….The sisters played with monstrous energy...”