Arcanto Quartett
Antje Weithaas, violin
Daniel Sepec, violin
Tabea Zimmermann, viola
Jean-Guihen Queyras, cello
"The Arcanto Quartet is one of the most stimulating, enjoyable ensembles to listen to, no matter what it is playing. Freshness, close rapport, finesse and a blend of eloquence and vitality have been hallmarks of its style ever since its debut." (Telegraph)
After several years of playing chamber music together in different combinations, Antje Weithaas, Daniel Sepec, Tabea Zimmermann and Jean-Guihen Queyras founded the Arcanto Quartet in 2002. Quickly the four musical soulmates, who also share a close personal friendship, captured the chamber music world with their spirited playing which is fuelled by the joy of bringing music to life.
After a triumphant concert debut in Stuttgart in June 2004, the Arcanto Quartet quickly went on to perform at the Beethovenhaus Bonn, Wigmore Hall London, Théâtre du Châtelet Paris, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Philharmonie Cologne, Konzerthaus Vienna, Auditorio Nacional de Musica Madrid as well as at the Ludwigsburger Schlossfestspiele and the festivals of Edinburgh, Helsinki and Montreux, and tours to Japan and Israel. In the 08/09 season they gave their debuts at the Rheingau Musik Festival, Kunstfest Weimar, Tonhalle Zürich and Philharmonie Berlin. After the resounding success of their first CD with Bartók's String Quartets No. 5 and 6, a second CD was released last season (Brahms String Quartet op. 51 No. 1 and Piano Quintet op. 34 with pianist Silke Avenhaus). A third CD for the Harmonia Mundi label with works by Ravel, Dutilleux and Debussy is also planned.
The 2009/2010 season will commence with a tour of Japan in September, followed by a residency in London. The quartet has invited Jörg Widmann, Silke Avenhaus and Olivier Marron for several chamber concerts at Wigmore Hall. In October 2010, the Arcanto Quartet will introduce itself to the North American audience. Among other venues, their tour will lead them to Carnegie Hall and the Vancouver Recital Series.
One can hardly imagine a better advocate of music than Antje Weithaas. Music and the communication with her fellow musicians and the audience are always the main focus. Today, she is one of the most sought-after soloists and chamber musicians of her generation. Her wide range of repertoire includes the great concertos by Mozart, Beethoven and Schumann and modern classics by Shostakovich, Prokofiev, Ligeti and Gubaidulina, as well as rarities such as the violin concertos by Korngold, Hartmann and Schoeck. Antje Weithaas has been invited by leading German orchestras including the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Bamberger Symphoniker and the major German radio orchestras as well as numerous international orchestras such as Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Philharmonia Orchestra, BBC Symphony and the leading orchestras of the Netherlands, Scandinavia and Asia. She has worked with renowned conductors including Vladimir Ashkenazy, Sir Neville Marriner, Sakari Oramo, Thomas Dausgaard, Andrej Boreyko and Christian Zacharias. Antje Weithaas is particularly active in the chamber music field with musical partners such as Lars Vogt, Christian Tetzlaff and Sharon Kam. She became a professor at the Hochschule für Musik "Hanns Eisler" Berlin in 2004.
Daniel Sepec studied with Dieter Vorholz in Frankfurt as well as Gerhard Schulz in Vienna and took part in master classes with Sandor Végh and the Alban Berg Quartet. Since 1993, Daniel Sepec has been leading Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, regularly appearing as a soloist under such conductors as Daniel Harding, Thomas Hengelbrock, Frans Brüggen and Trevor Pinnock. Attracted to the richness of expression in Baroque music, Daniel Sepec has become increasingly fascinated with the baroque violin. He regularly leads the Balthasar-Neumann-Ensemble, an original instruments ensemble, under the baton of Thomas Hengelbrock. As guest leader, he has performed with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Camerata Bern and Camerata Academica Salzburg, as soloist with the Academy of Ancient Music under Christopher Hogwood and the Wiener Akademie under Martin Haselböck. He played Biber's Rosenkranz Sonatas on Baroque violin at the Vienna Konzerthaus and at the Innsbruck Festwochen der Alten Musik. As a chamber musician, he is regularly invited to the Schubertiade Schwarzenberg.
Tabea Zimmermann studied with Ulrich Koch at the Freiburg Musikhochschule and with Sándor Végh at the Salzburg Mozarteum. Between 1982 and 1984, she won the competitions of Geneva, Budapest and Paris. As a viola soloist, she regularly works with the most distinguished orchestras, from Berlin Philharmonic and London Symphony to Israel Philharmonic and Orchestre de Paris. She has recorded the most important viola repertoire to great acclaim. Performing contemporary music is a major aspect of her artistic activities, and works which she has recently premiered include Ligeti's Sonata for solo viola, which was dedicated to her, as well as the viola concertos by Sally Beamish, Wolfgang Rihm and Heinz Holliger. Tabea Zimmermann is much in demand as a chamber musician and has worked with such well-known partners as Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Hartmut Höll, Christian Tetzlaff and the Alban Berg Quartet. Following professorships in Saarbrücken and Frankfurt/Main, she has been teaching at the Hochschule für Musik „Hanns Eisler" Berlin since 2002. Tabea Zimmermann is married to the conductor Steven Sloane and has three children.
Jean-Guihen Queyras' recordings for Harmonia Mundi, whether it is Haydn's concertos on a period instrument, Dvorak's cello concerto with the Prague Philharmonia under the baton of Jiří Bĕlohlávek or the beautiful Arpeggione with pianist Alexandre Tharaud, have been unanimously acclaimed by the international press. His recording of Britten's solo suites remains the discographic reference according to Gramophone and BBC Music Magazine. Bach's complete solo suites were released last year to great acclaim preceded by a French collection of pieces by Debussy and Poulenc, which were both awarded the ‘Diapason d'Or de l'Année'. As a former soloist of Pierre Boulez's Ensemble Intercontemporain, Jean-Guihen Queyras regularly gives world premieres, a number of which are dedicated to him. His next Harmonia Mundi release will feature three concertos by Mantovani, Schoeller and Amy. Jean-Guihen Queyras performs extensively with internationally renowned orchestras and is regularly invited to perform in special concert series including Leif Ove Andsnes' chamber music series at the Carnegie Hall in May 2005, Jean-Guihen and friends at the Vredenburg in Utrecht (2004/2005 season), Carte Blanche à Jean-Guihen Queyras at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam in May 2007 and at the Bijloke Concert Hall in Ghent during the current season. In November 2002, Jean-Guihen Queyras received the City of Toronto Glenn Gould International Protégé Prize, and he was recently made ‘Instrumental Soloist of the Year' at the French Classical Music Awards as well as ‘Artist of the Year' by the readers of the Diapason magazine. Since November 2005, he has played a cello made by Gioffredo Cappain 1696, on loan from Mécénat Musical Société Générale.
Daniel Sepec, violin
Tabea Zimmermann, viola
Jean-Guihen Queyras, cello
"The Arcanto Quartet is one of the most stimulating, enjoyable ensembles to listen to, no matter what it is playing. Freshness, close rapport, finesse and a blend of eloquence and vitality have been hallmarks of its style ever since its debut." (Telegraph)
After several years of playing chamber music together in different combinations, Antje Weithaas, Daniel Sepec, Tabea Zimmermann and Jean-Guihen Queyras founded the Arcanto Quartet in 2002. Quickly the four musical soulmates, who also share a close personal friendship, captured the chamber music world with their spirited playing which is fuelled by the joy of bringing music to life.
After a triumphant concert debut in Stuttgart in June 2004, the Arcanto Quartet quickly went on to perform at the Beethovenhaus Bonn, Wigmore Hall London, Théâtre du Châtelet Paris, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Philharmonie Cologne, Konzerthaus Vienna, Auditorio Nacional de Musica Madrid as well as at the Ludwigsburger Schlossfestspiele and the festivals of Edinburgh, Helsinki and Montreux, and tours to Japan and Israel. In the 08/09 season they gave their debuts at the Rheingau Musik Festival, Kunstfest Weimar, Tonhalle Zürich and Philharmonie Berlin. After the resounding success of their first CD with Bartók's String Quartets No. 5 and 6, a second CD was released last season (Brahms String Quartet op. 51 No. 1 and Piano Quintet op. 34 with pianist Silke Avenhaus). A third CD for the Harmonia Mundi label with works by Ravel, Dutilleux and Debussy is also planned.
The 2009/2010 season will commence with a tour of Japan in September, followed by a residency in London. The quartet has invited Jörg Widmann, Silke Avenhaus and Olivier Marron for several chamber concerts at Wigmore Hall. In October 2010, the Arcanto Quartet will introduce itself to the North American audience. Among other venues, their tour will lead them to Carnegie Hall and the Vancouver Recital Series.
One can hardly imagine a better advocate of music than Antje Weithaas. Music and the communication with her fellow musicians and the audience are always the main focus. Today, she is one of the most sought-after soloists and chamber musicians of her generation. Her wide range of repertoire includes the great concertos by Mozart, Beethoven and Schumann and modern classics by Shostakovich, Prokofiev, Ligeti and Gubaidulina, as well as rarities such as the violin concertos by Korngold, Hartmann and Schoeck. Antje Weithaas has been invited by leading German orchestras including the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Bamberger Symphoniker and the major German radio orchestras as well as numerous international orchestras such as Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Philharmonia Orchestra, BBC Symphony and the leading orchestras of the Netherlands, Scandinavia and Asia. She has worked with renowned conductors including Vladimir Ashkenazy, Sir Neville Marriner, Sakari Oramo, Thomas Dausgaard, Andrej Boreyko and Christian Zacharias. Antje Weithaas is particularly active in the chamber music field with musical partners such as Lars Vogt, Christian Tetzlaff and Sharon Kam. She became a professor at the Hochschule für Musik "Hanns Eisler" Berlin in 2004.
Daniel Sepec studied with Dieter Vorholz in Frankfurt as well as Gerhard Schulz in Vienna and took part in master classes with Sandor Végh and the Alban Berg Quartet. Since 1993, Daniel Sepec has been leading Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, regularly appearing as a soloist under such conductors as Daniel Harding, Thomas Hengelbrock, Frans Brüggen and Trevor Pinnock. Attracted to the richness of expression in Baroque music, Daniel Sepec has become increasingly fascinated with the baroque violin. He regularly leads the Balthasar-Neumann-Ensemble, an original instruments ensemble, under the baton of Thomas Hengelbrock. As guest leader, he has performed with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Camerata Bern and Camerata Academica Salzburg, as soloist with the Academy of Ancient Music under Christopher Hogwood and the Wiener Akademie under Martin Haselböck. He played Biber's Rosenkranz Sonatas on Baroque violin at the Vienna Konzerthaus and at the Innsbruck Festwochen der Alten Musik. As a chamber musician, he is regularly invited to the Schubertiade Schwarzenberg.
Tabea Zimmermann studied with Ulrich Koch at the Freiburg Musikhochschule and with Sándor Végh at the Salzburg Mozarteum. Between 1982 and 1984, she won the competitions of Geneva, Budapest and Paris. As a viola soloist, she regularly works with the most distinguished orchestras, from Berlin Philharmonic and London Symphony to Israel Philharmonic and Orchestre de Paris. She has recorded the most important viola repertoire to great acclaim. Performing contemporary music is a major aspect of her artistic activities, and works which she has recently premiered include Ligeti's Sonata for solo viola, which was dedicated to her, as well as the viola concertos by Sally Beamish, Wolfgang Rihm and Heinz Holliger. Tabea Zimmermann is much in demand as a chamber musician and has worked with such well-known partners as Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Hartmut Höll, Christian Tetzlaff and the Alban Berg Quartet. Following professorships in Saarbrücken and Frankfurt/Main, she has been teaching at the Hochschule für Musik „Hanns Eisler" Berlin since 2002. Tabea Zimmermann is married to the conductor Steven Sloane and has three children.
Jean-Guihen Queyras' recordings for Harmonia Mundi, whether it is Haydn's concertos on a period instrument, Dvorak's cello concerto with the Prague Philharmonia under the baton of Jiří Bĕlohlávek or the beautiful Arpeggione with pianist Alexandre Tharaud, have been unanimously acclaimed by the international press. His recording of Britten's solo suites remains the discographic reference according to Gramophone and BBC Music Magazine. Bach's complete solo suites were released last year to great acclaim preceded by a French collection of pieces by Debussy and Poulenc, which were both awarded the ‘Diapason d'Or de l'Année'. As a former soloist of Pierre Boulez's Ensemble Intercontemporain, Jean-Guihen Queyras regularly gives world premieres, a number of which are dedicated to him. His next Harmonia Mundi release will feature three concertos by Mantovani, Schoeller and Amy. Jean-Guihen Queyras performs extensively with internationally renowned orchestras and is regularly invited to perform in special concert series including Leif Ove Andsnes' chamber music series at the Carnegie Hall in May 2005, Jean-Guihen and friends at the Vredenburg in Utrecht (2004/2005 season), Carte Blanche à Jean-Guihen Queyras at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam in May 2007 and at the Bijloke Concert Hall in Ghent during the current season. In November 2002, Jean-Guihen Queyras received the City of Toronto Glenn Gould International Protégé Prize, and he was recently made ‘Instrumental Soloist of the Year' at the French Classical Music Awards as well as ‘Artist of the Year' by the readers of the Diapason magazine. Since November 2005, he has played a cello made by Gioffredo Cappain 1696, on loan from Mécénat Musical Société Générale.
General Management
Photo: Marco Borggreve
Photo: Marco Borggreve
Photo: Marco Borggreve