Absalon String Quartet (DK/SE/NO)

Absalon String Quartet is a young Copenhagen-based ensemble formed in 2020. The quartet quickly gained recognition in Denmark after they won the Rued Langgaard Competition in 2021 and played at the opening concert of the Rued Langgaard Festival in Ribe the same year. Since then the Absalon String Quartet has given concerts at a large part of Denmarks music associations and concert halls with great joy. ASQ has also taken part in many international masterclasses e.g. with David Harrington from the Kronos Quartet as part of the Festspillene in Bergen, with the Danish String Quartet at the DSQ Academy, Eberhard Feltz, Eckart Runge (Artemis Quartet), Minna Pensola (Meta4 Quartet) and most recently with Johannes Meissl and Bjørg Lewis at an ECMA session in Copenhagen.

In January 2023 the quartet won first prize at the prestigious Danish Radio Chamber Music Competition. The quartet works on a daily basis with Professor Tim Frederiksen at the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen. ASQ consists of violinists Thera Ortved and Andreas Larsen, Alva Rasmussen on viola and Hedda Aadland on cello.

Quartett HANA (JP/KR/NL/TW)

The Quartett HANA (Gyurim Kwak, Fuga Miwatashi, Simon Rosier and Tzu-Shao Chao) was founded in April 2019 at the Munich University of Music and Performing Arts. In 2020, the Quartett HANA received 3rd prize at the Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy University Competition in Berlin and played in the Konzerthaus Berlin. In September 2022, the quartet received a special prize “Förderpreis Jeunesse Musicales Deutschland” at the ARD International Music Competition in Munich. In April 2023, the quartet was awarded 3rd prize at the Carl Nielsen International Chamber Music Competition in Copenhagen. In October 2023, they also received 2nd prize at the Geneva International Music Competition.

Future engagements include performances at the Mozartfest Würzburg and Heidelberger Frühling String Quartet Festival.

They have been studying with Prof. Rapaël Merlin and the Quatuor Ébène. The musicians have received musical advices, working regularly with Prof.Eberhard Feltz and Prof.Dirk Mommertz (Fauré Quartett). They have participated in masterclasses by Prof.Oliver Wille (Kuss Quartett), Prof. Heime Müller (Artemis Quartett), Prof.Gerhard Schulz (Alban Berg Quartett) and Quatuor Voce. Since 2021 they are sponsored by Yehudi Menuhin Live Music Now in Munich. The two violinists Gyurim Kwak and Fuga Miwatashi alternate in the role of primaria.

Quatuor Magenta (FR)

The Quatuor Magenta is a string quartet founded in 2021 and based in Paris. For the upcoming seasons, the quartet is ensemble in residence at Proquartet - Centre Européen de Musique de Chambre and junior artist in residence at the Singer-Polignac Foundation. Finalist at the 8th Joseph Haydn Chamber Music Competition in Vienna, the quartet also won prizes at the 2023 FNAPEC competition (Académie des Beaux-Arts scholarship) and the Zukunftsklang Competition Stuttgart 2022 (3rd prize).

The Quatuor Magenta has been invited to perform at numerous festivals in France, including the Festival de Radio France Montpellier, the Musikfest Parisienne, the Festival de la Chaise-Dieu, Un Été en France with Gautier Capuçon, the Modigliani Quartet’s Festival Vibre !, and the International Piano Festival in la Roque d’Anthéron, as well as in Switzerland (Festival de la Collégiale in Neuchâtel) and in Germany (Klangraum Konzerte in Cologne).
They are featured on flutist Julien Beaudiment’s album California Dreamin’ which was released in 2023 on Klarthe. This season, contemporary music has pride of place with Quatuor Magenta’s participation in the Kronos Quartet’s “50 for the Future” Marathon at the Philharmonie de Paris’s String Quartet Biennial, as well as a recording project of Olivier Korber’s string quartet and performances of Yves Balmer’s string quartet in spring 2024.

The Quatuor Magenta studies with the Quatuor Ébène at their quartet academy at the University of Music and Performing Arts Munich, with the Quatuor Modigliani in the newÉlite program at the École Normale de Musique de Paris, and with Rainer Schmidt of the Hagen Quartett at the Basel University of Music. They are grateful for the support of the Culture and Musique Foundation (Fondation de France) and that of ADAMI, and they work with Chapeau l’Artiste Production.

Stelios Quartet (KR/CA)

The Stelios Quartet is a rising string quartet made up of four distinct musicians who create an intimate blend in sound.
Founded in 2022 at the Schulich School of Music of McGill University under the tutelage of André Roy, the Stelios Quartet received numerous awards, including the 2024 Schiermonnikoog Festival Audience Award and the Grand Prize at the 2023 McGill Chamber Music Competition.

In 2024, the Stelios Quartet was invited to the Netherland String Quartet Academy (NSKA) and the Schiermonnikoog Festival to work closely with Marc Danel, Gehard Schultz, and Luc-Marie Aguera. Previously, they also participated in the McGill International String Quartet Academy in Montreal.
The Stelios Quartet has captivated audiences with performances in Montreal, Ottawa, Newark, Utrecht, and Schiermonnikoog. Their forthcoming engagements include a distinguished series of concerts across the Netherlands, with appearances in Eelde, Rhenen, Dalfsen, and Schiermonnikoog. Additionally, they will be a guest artist at the 2024 Rendez-Vous Musical de Laterrière festival in Saguenay.
The name “Stelios” was chosen to describe the quartet’s musical qualities —“honest and sensitive”.