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Founded in Berlin in 2006, the Armida Quartett took its name from an opera by Haydn, the “father of the string quartet”. Still receiving the tutelage of Rainer Schmidt (Hagen Quartet) and Reinhard Goebel, the ensemble has also studied with members of the Artemis Quartet for several years. The Armida Quartett won first prize at the Geneva Competition in 2011 and received several scholarships, including those of the Irene Steels-Wilsing Foundation and the Schierse Foundation in Berlin. The Armida Quartett is also taking part in the BBC New Generation Artists’ scheme between 2014 and 2016. Since its success at the ARD International Competition in 2012, at which the Armida Quartett took First Prize, the Audience Prize and six other special awards, the career of the young Berlin string quartet has developed sensationally.
The Armida Quartett has been selected by the European Concert Hall Organisation (ECHO) to become its “Rising Stars” during the 2016-2017 season. Therefore, the season is mainly dedicated to the “Rising Stars” concerts which will bring the Armida Quartett to all major music cities and venues in Europa: Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Baden-Baden, Barcelona, Birmingham, Budapest, Brussels, Philharmonie Cologne, Dortmund, Hamburg, Lisbon, London, Luxemburg, Cité de la Musique Paris, Stockholm and Konzerthaus Vienna. As the artists undertake their tours they also engage with and deliver a broad variety of Education, Learning and Participation work with diverse communities in cities and regions across the ECHO network.
During the summer of 2016 the Armida Quartett returns to the Wigmore Hall in London and gives their debut at the world famous BBC Proms. They are also appearing at the Cheltenham Festival, the Danish Hindsgavl Festival and at the Mozartfest in Augsburg. In addition to the Rising Stars concerts, the Armida Quartett will also play in Basel, Berlin and Madrid.
Frequent collaboration with others is a priority for the Armida Quartett – the ensemble has also worked with Anna Prohaska, Thomas Hampson, Ewa Kupiec, Max Hornung, Daniel Müller-Schott, Jörg Widmann and Tabea Zimmermann. The four musicians of the Armida Quartett have taught chamber music at the Berlin University of the Arts since October 2012.
The ensemble’s debut CD, featuring works by Béla Bartók, György Ligeti and György Kurtág, was released in 2013 and selected by the German Record Critics’ Award for its critics’ choice list. Their second CD with music by W.A. Mozart was released in 2016. |
