Along with the cash prize, the quartet will receive four years of career mentorship
The British-based Fibonacci Quartet has been announced as recipient of the 2026 Merito award, which is presented every four years to string quartet players under the age of 35 who demonstrate active concert engagement in Europe. The award carries a cash prize of €60,000.
The Fibonacci Quartet – comprising violinists Kryštof Kohout and Luna De Mol, violist Elliot Kempton and cellist Findlay Spance, originally formed at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. The ensemble has previously won the first prize in the Royal Overseas League Chamber Music Competition, both the first prize and audience prize in the Premio Paulo Borciani 2024, and was recently awarded a Borletti–Buitoni Fellowship.
The players are resident teachers at the Royal Welsh College of Music as well as Nina Drucker Fellows at the Royal Academy of Music. The ensemble joined the Young Classical Artists Trust (YCAT) roster in 2024.
The Merito award is the result of a collaboration between Valentin Erben, founding member of the Alban Berg Quartet, and Wolfgang Habermayer, owner of investment company MERITO Financial Solutions GmbH. It was established in 2018. Quartets do not apply for the award, but are instead nominated and then followed by a secret jury over a season.
Along with the cash prize, the Fibonacci Quartet will now receive four years of tailored support to help establish them on the international concert circuit. Previous winners of the award were the Leonkoro Quartet (2022) and the Castalian Quartet (2018).
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