Artists

Schumann Quartett

String Quartet

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The Schumann Quartett  

Eric Schumann, Violin

Ken Schumann, Violin

Veit Hertenstein, Viola

Mark Schumann, Violoncello  



Founded in Cologne in 2007, the Schumann Quartet is composed of the brothers Erik, Ken and Mark Schumann, along with violist Veit Hertenstein. In May 2013 the Quartet has won the 1st Prize at the international String Quartet Competition “Quatuor à Bordeaux”, after it had already won the Competition “SCHUBERT AND MODERN MUSIC” in Graz (Austria) in 2012. Likewise the four musicians were among the prizewinners at the renowned Paolo Borciani Competition (2011) and at the 7th International Chamber Music Competition in Osaka (2011).   The ensemble is currently studying under the guidance of Harald Schoneweg (Cherubini Quartet) at Cologne Musikhochschule, and with Günter Pichler (Alban Berg Quartet) at the Queen Sofia College of Music, Madrid.

They also continue to receive valuable instruction from Heime Müller, Eberhard Feltz, Henk Guittart and the members of Alban Berg Quartet.   The ensemble is supported by scholarships from Villa Musica Rheinland-Pfalz (Mainz) and the Irene Steels-Wilsing Foundation, and was previously selected for a grant by the Werner Richard / Dr. Carl Dörken Foundation.   Ever since the 2009/10 season, the Schumann Quartet has enjoyed the status of Artist in Residence in the “Erstklassik” recital series held in Düsseldorf’s Robert Schumann Auditorium. They are also a welcome, often-invited guest in other concert halls of their home region North Rhine Westphalia, such as the Beethovenhaus in Bonn. Also the quartet goes regularly on tour to Japan, Canada, Austria and Italy.   The artists have teamed up with chamber music partners such as pianist Henri Sigfridsson, oboist Ramón Ortega Quero, clarinetist David Orlowsky, cellist Nicolas Altstaedt and pianist Cédric Pescia.   WDR Classical Radio (Cologne) has recorded the Schumann Quartet several times – most recently in January 2013, with a live concert broadcast of works by Mozart and Verdi, along with the 3rd String Quartet by recently deceased Düsseldorf composer Jürg Baur.   Released in April 2013, the Schumann Quartet’s début CD features works by Beethoven, Bartók and Brahms. 


　In the 2015/2016 season, the ensemble will be the quartet-in-residence at Schloss Esterházy, and is to give the first performance of a string quartet by Helena Winkelman. The season will also see concerts in the Tonhalle Zürich, at the Musikverein in Vienna, in London's Wigmore Hall and the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, a tour of Israel and the quartet's American début in Washington DC. From the 2016/17 season, it will perform several concerts in New York City as part of a two-year residency at the Lincoln Center.

 

Discography