The Callino Quartet take their name from the Irish air Cailin cois tSuir a me which means 'Girl by the River Sui', the first Irish air to be notated in the late 16th century and which subsequently became known as the Callino manuscript. It is now on display in Trinity College library, Dublin.

The Quartet have cultivated a challenging and eclectic repertoire, performing and collaborating with many diverse musicians including the Belcea string quartet, double bassist Edgar Meyer, pianist Barry Douglas, singer Patricia Rozario, rock band Arcade Fire, Bell Orchestre and jazz musicians John Abercrombie and Sophie Dunér.

They are passionately committed to contemporary music and have worked with composers Edgar Meyer, Peteris Vasks, Aleksandra Vrebalov, Alexander Knaifel, Franghiz Ali-Zadeh, Ian Wilson, Raymond Deane, Ronan Guilfoyle and Ben Dwyer closely on their works for string quartet.

The quartet’s first commercially successful CD of the complete quartets by Ian Wilson was followed by a recent Louth Contemporary Music Society recording of music by Arvo Pärt, Valentin Silvestrov, John Tavener and Alexander Knaifel.