The Derreen Quartet is a new quartet made up of two extraordinary pairs of Irish and Dutch siblings. Mairéad and Séamus Hickey will need little introduction, both enjoy stellar international careers as soloists and chamber musicians alongside regular performances in Ireland. Yente and Isaac Lottman are similarly celebrated, both are multiple competition prize-winners and are in demand internationally.

Mairéad Hickey, violin

Celebrated Irish violinist Mairéad Hickey is acclaimed for her captivating expression, soaring tone and fearless virtuosity. Her natural ability to communicate sincerely, with beauty and integrity, entrances audiences worldwide.

As a soloist Mairéad has performed with the RTÉ Irish National Symphony Orchestra, RTÉ Irish National Concert Orchestra, Hessicher Rundfunk Sinfonie Orchester, Orchestre National de Bordeaux Aquitaine, Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire, Württembergisches Kammerorchester, Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Mainz, Kremerata Baltica, Chamber Orchestra of Europe , Camerata Ireland and with conductors such as Christoph Eschenbach in some of the major halls around the world. Her Carnegie Hall debut was described as ‘…magical, penetrating to the heart and soul of the music.’ (New York Epoch Times)

Mairéad was the concertmaster of the Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire from 2021 to 2023. She is frequently invited to perform as guest concertmaster in orchestras including Orchestra National du Capitole de Toulouse, Orchestre National de Bordeaux Aquitaine, Orchestre de Paris, BBC Ulster Orchestra, Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia and Orquesta Simfónica del Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona.

A passionate chamber musician, Mairéad has performed with Sir András Schiff, Barry Douglas, Tabea Zimmermann, Renaud Capuçon, Mate Bekavac, Irena Grafenauer, Alexander Lonquich, Steven Isserlis, Christian Tetzlaff, Alain Altinoglu, Kirill Gernstein, Paul Neubauer, Pieter Wispelway, Michel Lethiec, Dmitry Sitkovetsky and the Vanbrugh Quartet among many others.

Mairéad has been invited to perform at the West Cork Chamber Music Festival, Westport Festival of Chamber Music, the Clandeboye Music Festival, the Rheingau Festival, Sommets Musicaux de Gstaad, Festival International de Colmar, Nouveaux Horizons d'Aix-en-Provence, Mantova Chamber Music Festival, Grachtenfestival Amsterdam, Rolandseck Festival and Chamber Music Connects the World.

Her love of chamber music led her to co-found the Ortús Chamber Music Festival in 2016 in her native Cork, of which she is Artistic Director.

Mairéad was Irish NCH Young Musician of the Year 2010 – 2012. As well as winning prizes at renowned Irish competitions, she won third prize as well as a Special Prize for the best interpretation of a virtuoso work at the 2016 International Louis Spohr Competition and first prize in the Jeunesses Musicales Violin Competition, Romania 2012. In 2017 she was awarded a Special Prize in the Berliner International Music Competition and the Manhattan International Music Competition. She was awarded the André Hoffmann prize at the Sommets Musicaux de Gstaad in January 2022 for her interpretation of the world premiere performance of Wolfgang Rhim's 'Episode'.

Born in 1996, Mairéad began playing the violin at the age of three with Jyrki Pietila. From 2003 to 2014 she studied with Adrian Petcu at the CIT Cork School of Music, Ireland and spent a year in France studying at the Conservatoire de Nantes with Constantin Serban. In 2020 she graduated with a Masters in Performance from Kronberg Academy where she studied with Mihaela Martin.

Mairéad has taken masterclasses and worked intensely with artists such as András Schiff, Rita Wagner, Ferenc Rados, Gidon Kremer, Dora Schwarzberg, Elena Bashkirova, Hugh Maguire, Vadim Repin, Mariana Sirbu, Ana Chumachenco, Vadim Gluzman, Steven Isserlis, Yossi Zivoni, Mauricio Fuks, Gabor Takács-Nagy, Christoph Eschenbach, Marc Danel and Ivry Gitlis among others.

Mairéad also plays traditional Irish music and has won eight world Irish fiddle titles.

Mairéad currently plays a 1702 Giovanni Tononi violin. She is supported by Music Network's Music Capital Scheme, funded by the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport. Music Network is funded by the Arts Council.

Yente Lottman, violin

Yente Lottman (2001) is a Dutch violinist born in Amsterdam. She grew up in a musical family and began playing the violin at the age of four. In 2017, she was admitted to the Sweelinck Academy for young talent at the Conservatory of Amsterdam, where she studied with Sarah Kapustin. In 2021, she continued her studies at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama in London with David Takeno, holder of the Eugène Ysaÿe International Chair of Violin, and completed her Bachelor of Music (Honours) there in 2025. Alongside her studies, she also studied baroque violin with Pavlo Beznosiuk (Academy of Ancient Music).

Yente is a laureate of several national competitions. She won the Britten Violin Competition (2018), first prize in the regional finals of the Prinses Christina Competition (2019), and recently received second prize at the Netherlands Violin Competition in the Oskar Back category. During her time at the Guildhall School of Music she was awarded the St James Chamber Music Prize and The Harrison-Frank Family Foundation Award.

As a soloist, Yente has performed with the Residentie Orkest under the direction of Otto Tausk at TivoliVredenburg. At the age of sixteen, she made her debut at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam. As a laureate of the Prinses Christina Competition, she also toured the United States and Canada, performing in cities including San Francisco, Los Angeles, Calgary and Vancouver.

In addition, Yente is an active chamber musician and regularly appears at international festivals, including the Grachtenfestival and Festival Wonderfeel (Netherlands), the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival (Germany), Festival Ravel (France), Fjord Classics (Norway), and the Edinburgh International Festival (Scotland). She has collaborated with musicians such as Yura Lee, Jennifer Stumm and Anna Fedorova.

Yente currently performs on a Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume violin, generously provided on private loan.

Séamus Hickey, viola

Irish violist Séamus Hickey studied with Nobuko Imai and Marjolein Dispa in Amsterdam and with Simon Aspell and Adrian Petcu in Cork. He is the current violist of the Sonoro Quartet, former ECHO Rising Stars and prize winners at the Bartók World Competition for String Quartets.

Séamus is a regular guest principal violist with ensembles such as the Amsterdam Sinfonietta and has recorded and performed as soloist with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra and Riciotti Ensemble. He was a multiple prize winner at the Amsterdam National Viola Competition and is the winner of the Aileen Gore Cup at Feis Ceoil, Dublin, RTÉ Lyric FM award and the RDS Jago Award.

Séamus has played in some of the world’s most prestigious halls including Musikverein, Elbphilharmonie, Het Concertgebouw, Megaron, Teatro Colón and Shanghai Concert Hall. He is a regular guest at international chamber music festivals such as West Cork Chamber Music Festival, Killaloe Festival and Storioni Festival. He also plays Irish traditional music and has received many awards for his fiddle playing and whistling. Séamus is grateful for the support of Music Network, the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, and the Arts Council.

Isaac Lottman, cello

Isaac Lottman (2003), is a Dutch cellist from Amsterdam who began playing the cello at the age of three. He received his first lessons with Arie Aarts and later studied with Charles Watt and Monique Bartels. At thirteen, he was admitted to the Sweelinck Academy for young talent, where he studied with Monique Heidema. In 2020 he began his Bachelor studies with Pieter Wispelwey and Maarten Mostert. He is currently studying with Pieter Wispelwey, who has been his teacher for the past six years.

He will start his Artist Residency at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel in September 2026, in the class of Gary Hoffman and Jeroen Reuling.

He recently received the first prize at the OPM international cello competition in Morocco in April 2026. In December 2025 he received both audience prize and second prize at the Lions Europe Competition in Dublin. In 2022 he received second prize at the National Cello Biënnale Competition and in 2019 the first prize at the Britten competition. He was also a semi-finalist in the 2026 Queen Elisabeth Competition.

He participated in masterclasses with Nicolas Altstaedt, Gary Hoffman, Dmitri Ferschtman, Ivan Karizna, Jean-Guihen Queyras, Matthias Bartolomey, Pierre Colombet, Yovan Markovitch, Quirine Viersen, Gerhard Schulz, Marc Daniel, Luc-Marie de Aguera and Lukas Hagen.

Isaac loves chamber music, and has been part of a string quartet for five years, until 2025. He still plays chamber music with the ‘Amstel pianotrio’ and with his sister Yente Lottman, a violinist.

As a soloist he appeared at the Muziekgebouw and the Concertgebouw, and has played with the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre Royal de Chambre de Wallonie, L’orchestre Philharmonique Maroc, the Conservatory of Amsterdam orchestra and Orkest Amsterdam.

He is currently playing on a cello built by Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume, on loan from ‘het instrumentenfonds’.