ECMA: Concerts by four young European string quartets at the Academy of Music
Renowned violinist, chamber musician and teacher Johannes Meissl is also looking forward to the free concerts on the 15th and 16th of February in the Solti Hall, the culmination of a masterclass in collaboration with the European Chamber Music Academy (ECMA).
Famous festivals and institutions are among the members of the European Chamber Music Academy (ECMA), which has been operating successfully for more than a decade and a half. The prestigious organization aiming to preserve the traditions of chamber music and to introduce young formations has recently admitted the Budapest Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music as a cooperating partner. According to the official explanation, the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music, as a definitive workshop of 20th century chamber music traditions, has enriched this genre with world-renowned performers and continues to be an important player in this field.
For the first time this year, the Academy of Music is participating in the programme of the European Chamber Music Academy, closing the year with the aforementioned concerts which can be attended free of charge with the free tickets available at the ticket office of the main building on Liszt Ferenc Square. One of ECMA's artistic directors, a renowned violinist, chamber musician and teacher, Johannes Meissl, vice-rector of the Vienna Academy of Music, and Patrick Jüdt, a lecturer at the Bern Music Academy, will deliver a workshop to the formations participating in the Budapest event.
At two concerts in the Solti Hall on February 15 and 16, some of the basic works of the quartet literature will be performed in the youthful interpretation of four young chamber orchestras, one French, one based in Vienna, as well as two Hungarian ensembles.
SELINI QUARTET & KOROSSY STRING QUARTET / Photo: Liszt Academy / László Mudra
On the first concert night, Beethoven's String Quartet in C Major ("Razumovsky") will be performed by Quatuor Métamorphoses. Formed in 2016 by the Conservatoire of Paris, Quatuor Métamorphoses embodies the essence of the string quartet, bringing together members of different musical backgrounds to create an artistically uniform and therefore extremely exciting common denominator. The Kruppa String Quartet, who have been part of the European Chamber Music Academy programme since 2018, will perform Mendelssohn’s String Quartet No. 6 in F minor. The quartet was founded in 2012 by students of the Academy of Music under the direction of Bálint Kruppa, with the support of artists such as András Keller, János Devich, Sándor Devich and Gábor Takács-Nagy. The four young artists also took the masterclass of the world-famous Emerson Quartet.
At the next day's concert, the Selini Quartet, composed of musicians of different nationalities, will perform the same Mendelssohn piece. The quartet, founded in 2016 in Vienna, has been successful at numerous festivals, competitions and prestigious concert venues, and has been awarded the 2020–2022 scholarship by the Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Korossy Quartet, formed by students of the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music, will perform String Quartet No. 2 by Béla Bartók. The formation drew attention in 2019 by its outstanding performance as category winner at the Leo Weiner National Chamber Music Competition.