Apollon Musagéte Quartet – February 1, 2024

Paweł Zalejski, violin
Bartosz Zachłod, violin
Piotr Szumieł, viola
Piotr Skweres, cello

“If Apollo had played the violin instead of the lyre, this is exactly how it would have sounded.” – Süddeutsche Zeitung

Winner of first prize and several other awards at the International Music Competition of the ARD in 2008, Apollon Musagète Quartet has rapidly become an established feature of the European musical scene, captivating public and press alike. The quartet studied with Johannes Meissl at the European Chamber Music Academy and was inspired by the musicians of the Alban Berg Quartet at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna.

The quartet was nominated ECHO Rising Stars 2010, followed by highly successful performances at prestigious European venues. It was also named BBC New Generation Artist in 2012, leading to extensive touring in the UK and a number of recordings for the BBC. In 2014 the musicians received the Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award.

Recent engagements have taken the quartet to the Auditori Barcelona, Konzerthaus and Philharmonie Berlin, Edinburgh International Festival, the Chopin and his Europe Festival in Warsaw, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Gewandhaus Leipzig, Wigmore Hall London, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Carnegie Hall New York, Louvre Paris, Schwetzinger SWR Festspiele and to the Tonhalle Zurich.

Apollon Musagète Quartet collaborates with renowned chamber musicians such as Martin Fröst, Nils Mönkemeyer, István Várdai and Jörg Widmann. They appeared in several symphonic series with BBC National Orchestra of Wales, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Dresden Philharmonic and Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra in Katowice.

They welcome collaborations that integrate chamber music into other performing art forms and were part of projects such as a staged concert by the Berlin based performance group Nico and the Navigators, a ballet production at the National Theatre in Nuremberg and a world tour with the pop singer Tori Amos. Their own compositions Multitude for String Quartet and A Multitude of Shades, both published by the Viennese publisher Doblinger, are often included in the quartet’s concert repertoire.

Since the debut CD by Oehms Classics in 2010 followed by recordings for the labels such as Decca Classics and Deutsche Grammophon, their discography has grown extensively. In 2018 a disc containing quartets by Andrzej Panufnik was released by the Fryderyk-Chopin-Institute and subsequently the latest recording with works by Karol Szymanowski and Roman Palester by Universal Poland.

Piotr Skweres plays an ex-André Navarra cello by Gennaro Gagliano dated 1741. The instrument has kindly been provided by Merito String Instruments Trust Vienna. Furthermore, the quartet thanks the Thomastik Infeld for the generous support and the enterprise Stoffwerk for the exclusive and custom-made concert clothes.