Three leading string quartets come together for spring concert

South Korea’s three leading chamber ensembles are set to join forces for a concert in April, according to classical music management company MOC Production.

Titled “Quartet Plus,” the concert on Aprill 20 will feature performances by three award-winning quartets -- Novus Quartet, Abel Quartet and Arete Quartet.

Abel Quartet will open the concert with Haydn’s Hob III:70 - String Quartet Op. 71, No. 2 in D major.

The youngest ensemble, Arete Quartet, will perform Shumann’s String Quartet No. 2 in F major op. 41, No. 2.

Following the intermission, Novus and Arete will go onstage as an octet to perform Mendelssohn’s Octet in E-flat major, Op. 20. 

Novus Quartet -- violinist Kim Jae-young, violinist Kim Young-uk , violist Kim Kyu-hyun, and cellist Lee Won-hae Lee -- was established in 2007 by students of the Korean National University of Arts.

Abel Quartet consists of violinists Youn Eun-sol and Park Soo-Hyun, violist Moon Seo-hyun and cellist Jo Hyoung-joon. It was formed in 2013 by Korean musicians living and studying in Munich. In 2015, it won first prize at the 6th Joseph Haydn International Chamber Music Competition in Vienna and second prize at the 11th Lyon International Chamber Music Competition. 

Violinists Jeon Chae-ann and Kim Dong-hwi, violist Jang Yoon-sun and cellist Park Seong-hyeon make up Arete Quartet which was founded in 2019. The ensemble is this years Kumho Rising Star. The four members are students at the University of Music and Performing Arts Munich. Last year, Arete Quartet won the 2021 Prague Spring Festival Competition’s Viktor Kalabis and Zuzana Ruzickova Prize, awarded to the first place winners in the competition for string quartets.

From 2011 to 2014, the Novus String Quartet studied under Christoph Poppen and Hariolf Schlichtig, both of whom also supervised Abel Quartet. Poppen and Novus Quartet’s leader Kim Jae-young currently teach members of Arete Quartet.

“Quartet Plus,” which has been organized to commemorate the 15th anniversary of MOC Production, will take place at Seoul Arts Center. Tickets are available at Seoul Arts Center and Interpark websites.

(gypark@heraldcorp.com)