Gémeaux Quartett
string quartet
Anne Schoenholtz, violin I
Manuel Oswald, violin II
Sylvia Zucker, viola
Uli Witteler, violoncello
The Gémeaux Quartet is one of the leading ensembles of its generation. The four musicians won 3rd Prize at the ARD Music Competition in 2008, as well as the coveted Audience Award. In 2007 they won 1st Prize at the Chamber Music Competition of the "Migros Culture Percentage." That same year they received the Mozart Prize of the city of Lucerne and were 1st Prize winners of the Basel Orchestra Society Contest (BOG). For several years the quartet was generously supported through Financing by the Dienemann Foundation of Lucerne and the Walter Levin Chair (Music Academy of Basel). Just recently, the Quartet, were honored with the Swiss Ambassador's Award in London. The result was a tour of England, Scotland and Wales for the ensemble. The Basel-based quartet has received national and international attention, partially because of these successes. With its forcefull, audacious interpretations, the young ensemble reveals the inner secrets of the music and conquers the hearts of the audience. The Gémeaux Quartet has a busy concert schedule. In addition to performances in Lucerne, the Opera Bastille in Paris, Tonhalle in Zurich, the Wigmore Hall or at the Berlin Philharmonie, the four musicians are guests at well-known festivals, such as the Lucerne Festival, the Schubert Festival in Schwarzenberg, the Rheingau Music Festival, as well as the Engadin Festival. Radio and television invite the young quartet regularly, and they performed on Swiss Radio DRS2, RTSI (Switzerland), Radio Berlin Brandenburg, SWR, WDR, Hessischer Rundfunk and Bavarian Radio. Amongst the chamber music partners of the Quartet are Jens Peter Maintz, Christian Poltera, Bruno Giuranna, Stewart Eaton (Auryn Quartet), Peter Holman (Zemlinsky Quartet), Sebastian Manz and Patrick Gallois. The four young musicians came together because of their passion for the string quartet repertoire – in 2003 they formed the Gémeaux Quartet at the Music Academy in Basel, where for four years they received guidance from Walter Levin (LaSalle Quartet), and Sebastian Hamann (formerly of the Amati Quartet, professor at the Academy of Music in Lucerne). As part of a postgraduate course for string quartets, the four musicians then received further training in depth for two years at the ‘Mozarteum’, Salzburg University, by the Hagen Quartet.
The Gémeaux quartet gets fresh omentum from renowned artists such as the Artemis Andras Schiff. For 2010 and 2011, the Quartet will be "Ensemble in Residence" at the Folkwang Hochschule in Essen.
Anne Schoenholtz, violin I
Manuel Oswald, violin II
Sylvia Zucker, viola
Uli Witteler, violoncello
The Gémeaux Quartet is one of the leading ensembles of its generation. The four musicians won 3rd Prize at the ARD Music Competition in 2008, as well as the coveted Audience Award. In 2007 they won 1st Prize at the Chamber Music Competition of the "Migros Culture Percentage." That same year they received the Mozart Prize of the city of Lucerne and were 1st Prize winners of the Basel Orchestra Society Contest (BOG). For several years the quartet was generously supported through Financing by the Dienemann Foundation of Lucerne and the Walter Levin Chair (Music Academy of Basel). Just recently, the Quartet, were honored with the Swiss Ambassador's Award in London. The result was a tour of England, Scotland and Wales for the ensemble. The Basel-based quartet has received national and international attention, partially because of these successes. With its forcefull, audacious interpretations, the young ensemble reveals the inner secrets of the music and conquers the hearts of the audience. The Gémeaux Quartet has a busy concert schedule. In addition to performances in Lucerne, the Opera Bastille in Paris, Tonhalle in Zurich, the Wigmore Hall or at the Berlin Philharmonie, the four musicians are guests at well-known festivals, such as the Lucerne Festival, the Schubert Festival in Schwarzenberg, the Rheingau Music Festival, as well as the Engadin Festival. Radio and television invite the young quartet regularly, and they performed on Swiss Radio DRS2, RTSI (Switzerland), Radio Berlin Brandenburg, SWR, WDR, Hessischer Rundfunk and Bavarian Radio. Amongst the chamber music partners of the Quartet are Jens Peter Maintz, Christian Poltera, Bruno Giuranna, Stewart Eaton (Auryn Quartet), Peter Holman (Zemlinsky Quartet), Sebastian Manz and Patrick Gallois. The four young musicians came together because of their passion for the string quartet repertoire – in 2003 they formed the Gémeaux Quartet at the Music Academy in Basel, where for four years they received guidance from Walter Levin (LaSalle Quartet), and Sebastian Hamann (formerly of the Amati Quartet, professor at the Academy of Music in Lucerne). As part of a postgraduate course for string quartets, the four musicians then received further training in depth for two years at the ‘Mozarteum’, Salzburg University, by the Hagen Quartet.
The Gémeaux quartet gets fresh omentum from renowned artists such as the Artemis Andras Schiff. For 2010 and 2011, the Quartet will be "Ensemble in Residence" at the Folkwang Hochschule in Essen.
CDs released by GENUIN
with Gémeaux Quartett
Pierre-Dominique Ponnelle
String Quartets No. 1 & 2
String Trio
Gémeaux Quartett string quartet
Pierre-Dominique Ponnelle Composer
GEN 10163 – 26.2.2010