Why Arnica?

About Our Name:

We get this question a lot: ‘What is the deal with the name of your quartet?’

It’s a pretty simple answer. Back in 2005, when we were rehearsing for our first concerts (and we decided that we were going to stick together for a while) we needed to come up with a name for the quartet. It’s a hard thing to do, to come up with a name that rolls off the tongue but hasn’t been taken, or that doesn’t sound self-aggrandizing. Our two violinists were doing a lot of playing at the time, and were having some muscle pains in their arms. They were using this homeopathic topical gel to help with the discomfort. The active ingredient in this gel? Arnica montana - a herbal extract from a lovely little wildflower. As we were looking at the tube, it suddenly dawned on us – why not call ourselves the Arnica Quartet? And the rest was history.