HERMES QUARTET

Omer Bouchez - violin
Elise Liu - violin
Lou Yung-Hsin Chang - viola
Yan Levionnois - cello

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Program:

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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 - 1791)

Mozart string quartet n.15 KV421 D minor  

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Leoš Janáček (1854 - 1928)

String quartet n°1 - "Kreutzer sonata"  

The Hermès quartet, in reference to the famous messenger from Greek mythology, draws its musical strength from its role as a bridge between the composer's text and the sensitivity of the public. The musicians also establish this identity through their travels to the four corners of the world. The Carnegie Hall in New York, the Forbidden City in Beijing or the Wigmore Hall in London are among the rooms that have marked them the most. The quartet is also present in major festivals such as the Folles Journées de Nantes and Tokyo, the Radio-France festival in Montpellier, the Easter and Musical August festivals in Deauville, La Roque d'Anthéron, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Mantova Chamber Music festival, the Alizés spring in Morocco, Wonderfeel festival…

The original formation of the group was born in 2008 within the walls of the CNSMD in Lyon where they studied with members of the Ravel quartet. They then enriched themselves with outstanding personalities such as the Ysaÿe quartet, the Artemis quartet, Eberhard Feltz, and later Alfred Brendel, an immense inspiration with whom its members still work regularly today. Open to all repertoires, they regularly share the stage with distinguished musicians such as Yo-Yo Ma, Nicholas Angelich, Gregor Sigl, Pavel Kolesnikov, Kim Kashkashian, Anne Gastinel or even the Ébène and Auryn quartets.

Winner of numerous first prizes, notably at the Geneva competition and at the Young Concert Artists Auditions in New York, he is also supported by the Banque Populaire foundation. He was a quartet in residence at the Queen Elisabeth Chapel in Brussels from 2012 to 2016 and since 2019 has been a quartet associated with the Singer-Polignac Foundation in Paris.

Their close and privileged collaboration with the La Dolce Volta label gave birth to their complete Schumann quartets as well as an album devoted to Ravel, Debussy and Dutilleux, both of which earned them multiple awards in the press. Their latest recording of Schubert quartets also won Classica magazine's Choc as well as a Radio Classique Trophy, and was named CD of the week by Bavarian radio station Br-Klassik.

Since 2018, the quartet has broadened its musical horizons by meeting accordionist Félicien Brut and double bassist Édouard Macarez, with whom they decided to create Le Pari des Bretelles, a project recorded for Mirare in 2019, before a second collaboration in 2020, paying homage to Beethoven through nine creations.

Elise Liu plays a violin by Carlo Tononi from 1730 on loan from Mr. Piganiol, on the initiative of the Talents & Violon'celles association.