New Arts International

Karol Szymanowski is often referred to in Poland as the country’s first “modern composer”
A journey to the three most important music centres of Europe in the early 1900’s: Paris, Vienna and Moscow celebrating the legacy of one of Poland’s greatest composers.

Since its beginnings in 1995, the Szymanowski Quartet has developed into one of the most remarkable string quartets of the younger generation. Sophisticated programming, along with a consummate interpretative balance between passion and intellect, are among the virtues which send its audiences into raptures. The Szymanowski Quartet studied chamber music with Hatto Beyerle at the Hochschule für Musik in Hanover. In parallel with its frequent concert appearances, the Quartet continues to refine its musical skills by working regularly above all with Isaac Stern, Walter Levin and the Amadeus, Emerson, Juilliard and Guarneri Quartets. Most recently it has entered into fruitful musical dialogue with Alfred Brendel. Numerous awards at competitions in Melbourne, Osaka and Florence confirm the Quartet’s extraordinarily high standard. Since autumn 2000 the Szymanowski Quartet has been teaching its own chamber music class at the Hochschule für Musik in the city of Hanover, where all four members have their home base. In 2005 the ensemble was honoured with the Szymanowski Award by the Karol Szymanowski Foundation in Warsaw, given on that occasion for the first time in its history to a string quartet. In 2007 the Polish government invested the Quartet with its honorary medal for outstanding service to Polish culture. In 2008 the Szymanowski Quartet founded the Lviv Chamber Music Festival in Ukraine, thus focusing its most recent project on the historical city of Lviv, a UNESCO World Heritage Site located close to the Polish border. As musical “boundary-crossers” themselves, the Quartet’s members thus wish to make a lasting contribution towards active international cultural exchange, inviting well-known colleagues to perform alongside them at the Festival. Not only has the Quartet made numerous appearances at renowned musical venues in New York, London, Amsterdam, Vienna, Paris, Berlin and Stockholm, but it is also frequently invited to perform at various top-notch festivals. Regularly on tour in the US and Canada, the Szymanowski Quartet has performed in well-known concert series in the cities of New York, Washington DC, Los Angeles, Vancouver and Montreal.

The Szymanowski Trip