The Armida Quartet, named after the eponymous opera by

Joseph Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( , ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions ...

, is a German

string quartet The term string quartet can refer to either a type of musical composition or a group of four people who play them. Many composers from the mid-18th century onwards wrote string quartets. The associated musical ensemble consists of two violinists ...

. The ensemble includes Martin Funda (violin), Johanna Staemmler (violin), Teresa Schwamm (viola) and Peter-Philipp Staemmler (violoncello).

History

The quartet was founded in Berlin in 2006 and studied with members of the

Artemis Quartet The Artemis Quartet is a German string quartet, founded in 1989 in Lübeck, and now based in Berlin. The quartet is named for the Greek goddess of hunting and the wilderness. History The first members of the Artemis Quartet, Wilken Ranck, Isab ...

Master class A master class is a Class (education), class given to students of a particular Academic discipline, discipline by an expert of that discipline—usually music, but also science, painting, drama, games, or on any other occasion where skills are b ...

es with the

Alban Berg Quartet The Alban Berg Quartett was a string quartet founded in Vienna, Austria in 1970, named after Alban Berg. Members Beginnings The Berg Quartet was founded in 1970 by four young professors of the Vienna Academy of Music, and made its debut in ...

, the

Guarneri Quartet The Guarneri Quartet was an American string quartet founded in 1964 at the Marlboro Music School and Festival. It was admired for its rich, warm, complex tone and its bold, dramatic interpretations of the quartet literature, with a particular aff ...

and

Arditti Quartet The Arditti Quartet is a string quartet founded in 1974 and led by the British violinist Irvine Arditti. The quartet is a globally recognized promoter of contemporary classical music and has a reputation for having a very wide repertoire. T ...

rounded off their training. The four musicians became known through their success at the

ARD International Music Competition The ARD International Music Competition (german: link=no, Internationaler Musikwettbewerb der ARD) is the largest international classical music competition in Germany. It is organised by the Bayerischer Rundfunk and held once a year in Munich. Si ...

in 2012, where the Armida Quartet was awarded 1st prize, the audience prize and six other special prizes. In September 2014, the quartet was included in the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

series "New Generation Artists." In the 2016/2017 season, the quartet will be featured across Europe as part of the European Concert Halls (ECHO) "Rising Stars" series. The Armida Quartet has also performed at the

Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival The Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival is a classical music festival held each summer throughout the state of Schleswig-Holstein in Northern Germany. History The festival was founded in 1986 by German concert pianist Justus Frantz. In 2006, the 2 ...

, the

Rheingau Musik Festival The (RMF) is an international summer music festival in Germany, founded in 1987. It is mostly for classical music, but includes other genres. Concerts take place at culturally important locations, such as Eberbach Abbey and Schloss Johannisberg, ...

, the Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, the Davos Festival and the

Heidelberger Frühling The International Music Festival Heidelberger Frühling is an annual classical music festival held in Heidelberg in March and April since 1997, with over 100 events and 47,000 visitors (2018). In addition to the festival's productions and concert ...

. In 2014, the quartet also made its first concert tour to China, Taiwan and Singapore. Since October 2012, the four musicians of the Armida Quartet have been teaching

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small numb ...

at the

Berlin University of the Arts The Universität der Künste Berlin (UdK; also known in English as the Berlin University of the Arts), situated in Berlin, Germany, is the largest art school in Europe. It is a public art and design school, and one of the four research universiti ...

. The musicians of the Armida Quartet are also in demand internationally as guest lecturers; they have already given master classes among others in Singapore and at the Mozart Festival Augsburg.

Awards

In 2011, the Armida Quartet won the first prize and the audience prize at the

Geneva International Music Competition The Geneva International Music Competition () is one of the world's leading international music competitions, founded in 1939. In 1957, it was one of the founding members of the World Federation of International Music Competition (WFIMC), whose he ...

. Before that, the ensemble received various scholarships, including from the Irene Steels-Wilsing Foundation and the Schierse Foundation Berlin. In 2013, the quartet's debut CD with works by

Béla Bartók Béla Viktor János Bartók (; ; 25 March 1881 – 26 September 1945) was a Hungarian composer, pianist, and ethnomusicologist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century; he and Franz Liszt are regarded as H ...

György Ligeti György Sándor Ligeti (; ; 28 May 1923 – 12 June 2006) was a Hungarian-Austrian composer of contemporary classical music. He has been described as "one of the most important avant-garde composers in the latter half of the twentieth century" ...

and

György Kurtág György Kurtág (; born 19 February 1926) is a Hungarian classical composer and pianist. He was an academic teacher of piano at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music from 1967, later also of chamber music, and taught until 1993. Biography György ...

was released and shortly afterwards was included in the best list of the

Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik The Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik ("German Record Critics' Award") was established in Germany in 1963 by publisher Richard Kaselowsky with the aim of setting the "most rigorous standards for supreme achievement and quality" in the field ...

Recording

* 2013: ''

Ursula Mamlok Ursula Mamlok (February 1, 1923 – May 4, 2016) was a German-born American composer and teacher. Education and influences Mamlok was born as Ursula Meyer in Berlin, Germany, into a Jewish family, and studied piano and composition with Professor G ...

: Streichquartett Nr. 1 (1962)'' (Naxos) * 2013: '' Bartók – Kurtág – Ligeti'' (CAvi) * 2015: '' Dvorak – Scharwenka'' (with

Ewa Kupiec Ewa Kupiec (born 2 November 1964 in Duszniki-Zdrój) is a Polish classical pianist. In 1992 she won the ARD Music Competition in the piano/cello category. In 2005 she performed Schnittke’s First Piano Concerto with the Berlin Radio Symphony Orc ...

, Randall Meyers) * 2015: ''

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...

'' (CAvi Music) * 2016: ''

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...

–

Dmitri Shostakovich Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich, , group=n (9 August 1975) was a Soviet-era Russian composer and pianist who became internationally known after the premiere of his Symphony No. 1 (Shostakovich), First Symphony in 1926 and was regarded throug ...

'' (CAvi Music)

References

External links

* * {{portal bar, Classical Music, Germany German string quartets Musical groups from Berlin Musical groups established in 2006 2006 establishments in Germany