Henschel Quartet
The Henschel Quartet is a German string quartet that has existed since 1994. It consists of Christoph Henschel (violin), Monika Henschel (viola), Mathias Beyer-Karlshøj (cello) and Teresa la Cour (violin).
education
The siblings Christoph, Markus (member until 2010) and Monika Henschel received their education from Felix Andrievsky , representative of the Moscow violin school (Yampolsky / Yuri Yankelevich), supplemented by encounters with Max Rostal , and graduated in 1988 from the Royal College of Music in London . Mathias Beyer-Karlshøj studied with the Swedish cellist Thorleif Thedeen and received his diploma in 1996 from the Kongelige Danske Music Conservatory in Copenhagen. There was also a musical exchange with Sergiu Celibidache and with Franz Beyer from the Munich University of Music .
For the musical development as an ensemble, the London masterclasses and guest studies at the Cologne University of Music with the Amadeus Quartet set the trend. They took courses with members of the LaSalle and Alban Berg quartets .
In 1994 the ensemble was "Quartet-in-Residence" of the Aldeburgh Festival and 1995/96 of the Tanglewood Music Festival . There, Louis Krasner and Eugene Lehner , who had worked with composers such as Béla Bartók and Arnold Schönberg , gave the quartet direct insights into the works of the New Vienna School .
Repertoire and world premieres
The repertoire of the Henschel Quartet includes more than 200 works from the classical and romantic periods, from the 20th century and contemporary music. The quartet has premiered works by many contemporary composers, from Günter Bialas to Manfred Trojahn, and has also premiered rediscovered works by famous composers from the past: in 2006 the concert premiere of Sergiu Celibidache's pocket garden in the Munich Herkulessaal together with the Junge Münchner Philharmonie , in 2007 the string quartet by Carl Orff at the Carl Orff Center in Munich and in 2008 the second string quintet by Max Bruch at the Wigmore Hall in London.
Awards and important stations
- In 1995 the Henschel Quartet won 5 prizes at international competitions in Evian, Banff and Salzburg for the best interpretations from Mozart to contemporary works. In the same year the first Japan tour took place together with the members of the Amadeus Quartet as "Ensemble Amadeus".
- 1996 1st prize and gold medal at the International String Quartet Competition in Osaka.
- In 2001 he made his international breakthrough as a substitute for the Juilliard String Quartet in London's Wigmore Hall .
- In 2002 the Henschel Quartet played the first complete Beethoven cycle on 6 evenings in Copenhagen / Tivoli. Further cycles u. a. in the Suntory Hall Tokyo.
- In 2007 the quartet was Germany's cultural ambassador at the anniversary celebration of the Europalia Festival in Brussels.
- In 2015 the Henschel Quartet won the Orlando Prize of the Dubrovnik Festival.
CD recordings
The Henschel Quartet has received numerous prizes, nominations and awards for its CD recordings of the classical / romantic repertoire with SONY BMG, EMI and Deutsche Grammophon, including:
- German Record Critics' Prize
- Midem Cannes
- CD of the year from the new music newspaper nmz
On the CD label NEOS Music, founded in 2007, the ensemble has recorded works from the 20th century and contemporary music.
Teaching and social engagement
The Henschel Quartet has been teaching since 1998 and regularly gives master classes at universities and music faculties, including at MIT (USA), the Royal Northern College of Music Manchester (Great Britain), the University of Melbourne (Australia) and the University of Tōkyō Geijutsu Daigaku (Tōkyō Geidai).
In addition, the Henschel Quartet is committed to the mutual exchange with other ensembles and is committed to creating new supporting structures in chamber music. Every year since 1997 the quartet has invited a new ensemble of colleagues to the Seligenstadt monastery to its own string festival as part of the Seligenstädter monastery concerts.
From the beginning, the quartet campaigned for children and young people. The non-profit organization “Friends of the Henschel Quartet for the Promotion of Chamber Music” has been dedicated to promoting young people since 2001, but also to opening up and expanding the chamber music scene. As an ambassador for SOS Children's Villages , the Henschel Quartet is committed to supporting the SOS Children's Villages with workshops for children and young people, concerts and a CD.