Winners of the prestigious Guitar Foundation of America International Ensemble Competition 2023, the Mēla guitar quartet are known for their imaginative, engaging programming, ingenious arrangements and commissioning celebrated original works. Hailed for their “collective technical brilliance and preternatural ensemble making” (Gramophone), the quartet have released three albums: the complete guitar quartets of composer/author Anthony Burgess; the complete guitar chamber works of Stephen Dodgson, both with Naxos; and the self-released album Pluck, Strum, and Hammer!. Notable performances have included the Southbank Centre’s Purcell Room, Kings Place Hall One, St. James’ Church Piccadilly, Barbican Centre’s Milton Court, St. George’s Bristol, Westminster Abbey, Soest Germany, and of course Jimi Hendrix’s bedroom. The quartet formed in 2015 as graduates of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and the Royal Academy of Music. They became International Guitar Festival Young Artists 2015/16, then Park Lane Group young artists 2018/19 and Royal Over-Seas League chamber music finalists 2019. The members Michael Butten and Zahrah Hutton joined in 2023. Mēla guitar quartet are D'addario Strings artists. The quartet play guitars by master luthier Michael Gee.