The Emperor Quartet has performed Haydn and Beethoven, as well as Xenakis and Ligeti, and has collaborated with Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood. The group has toured widely, appearing as far afield as Nigeria and Ecuador, and has recorded frequently for the BIS label.

The Emperor Quartet was formed in London in 1992. It has also used the name Emperor String Quartet and should not be confused with the Emperor Quartet active in the Toronto area in Canada. The group's membership has remained stable, comprising violinists Martin Burgess and Clare Hayes, violist Fiona Bonds, and cellist William Schofield. The quartet began appearing on the BBC as early as 1993, and it made its formal debut at the Edinburgh International Festival in 1994. At the London String Quartet Competition that year, the group won the Menuhin Prize. Other early competition wins, including the top prize at the 1995 Evian String Quartet Competition, boosted the group's career; it was the first British ensemble to notch an Evian win. Soon, the group was touring throughout Europe and North America, and beyond. Its Ecuadorian and Nigerian appearances came under the auspices of the British Council.

The Emperor Quartet made its recording debut in 2001 on the Black Box Classics label. The following year, the group moved to BIS for the recording James MacMillan: Chamber Music, and it has continued to record for that label. A notable feature of the quartet's career has been its collaborations with Jonny Greenwood, of the rock group Radiohead, on a trio of film soundtracks, those for Bodysong (2003), There Will Be Blood (2007), and Norwegian Wood (2011). In addition to tours in conventional concert venues, the quartet has appeared widely at festivals internationally, including the Prague Spring and the Martinu Festival in the Czech Republic, the Festival of Flanders in Ghent, and New York City's Mostly Mozart. The Emperor Quartet's recordings have focused on the music of the 20th and 21st centuries; several have been devoted to the quartets of Benjamin Britten, and these were collected into a complete set in 2022. ~ James Manheim, Rovi