Since 2011, Marc Danel has been artistic director and senior lecturer at the NSKA, succeeding Stefan Metz. He accompanied Dutch quartets that now define the chamber music landscape - Ragazze, Dudok, Ardemus and Animato - and foreign quartets such as the Quatuor Varèse and Quatuor Agate.
Marc Danel (1969) studied at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz in Cologne. He is primarius of the Quatuor Danel, which studied with the Amadeus Quartet, Valentin Berlinsky (Borodin Quartet) and Fyodor Druzhinin (Beethoven Quartet) and is seen as the heir of the famous Russian Beethoven Quartet and the Belgian Pro Arte Quartet.
The Quatuor Danel is praised for its intense and daring interpretations of Haydn and Schubert, the integral cycles of Beethoven, Shostakovich and Weinberg, and is an important interpreter of contemporary music by Rihm, Lachenmann, Gubaidulina and Widmann, among others. The quartet plays in major halls and festivals in Europe, the US, Taiwan and Japan and is in residence at the University of Manchester (since 2005), TivoliVredenburg (2016-2019) and Wigmore Hall (2019-2021).
Marc Danel is also professor of violin at the conservatories of Lyon (Fr.) and Namur (B) and guest lecturer at various conservatories in Europe and beyond.
The other three members of the Quatuor Danel are also involved as teachers at the NSKA:
Gilles Millet (violin)
Senior Professor of Chamber Music at the Conservatoire of Namur (B), artistic director of the Rurhof Domaine Masterclasses (B) and a regular guest at the National Conservatoire in Lyon, the ProQuartet in Paris and elsewhere in Europe, Asia and the US;
Vlad Bogdanas (viola)
Senior Professor of Chamber Music at the Pôle Aliénor d’enseignement supérieur in Poitiers;
Yovan Markovitch (cello)
Senior Professor of Chamber Music at the National Conservatoire in Lyon and former cellist of the Quatuor Ysaÿe.
After a very successful series of masterclasses in spring 2022, the NSKA has entered into a permanent relationship with Pierre Colombet, primarius of the Quatuor Ébène. We welcome him back in May 2023 (together with some colleagues), October 2023 and April 2024 (see the agenda for dates and further information).
"We need the inspiration of the audience." said Raphaël Merlin in an interview with the NZZ in Spring 2020, this was one of the central ideas of their "Beethoven Around the World" project. Between May 2019 and January 2020 the quartet recorded Beethoven's 16 string quartets in a worldwide project on 6 continents. With this complete recording, the four celebrated their 20th stage anniversary, which they then crowned with performances of the complete string quartet cycle in major European venues such as the Philharmonie de Paris or the Alte Oper Frankfurt. Invitations from Carnegie Hall New York, the Verbier Festival and the Vienna Konzerthaus were also on the agenda.
After studies with the Quatuor Ysaÿe in Paris as well as with Gábor Takács, Eberhard Feltz and György Kurtág, the unprecedented and outstanding success at the 2004 ARD Music Competition followed, marking the beginning of the Quatuor Ébène's rise to fame, which resulted in numerous other prizes and awards. For example: In 2005 the quartet was awarded the Belmont Prize of the Forberg-Schneider Foundation, in 2007 it was prizewinner of the Borletti-Buitoni Trust, and in 2019 - as first ensemble ever – it was honored with the Frankfurt Music Prize.
In addition to the traditional repertoire, the quartet also dives into other styles ("A string quartet that can easily morph into a jazz band" New York Times, 2009). What began in 1999 as a distraction in the university's practice rooms - improvising on jazz standards & pop songs - has become a trademark of Quatuor Ébène. To date the quartet has released 3 albums in these genres, Fiction (2010), Brazil (2014) and Eternal Stories (2017). The free approach to various styles creates a tension that is beneficial to every aspect of their artistic work. The complexity of their oeuvre has been greeted enthusiastically by audiences and critically.
Luc-Marie Aguera studied at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris with Gérard Jarry (violin) and Maurice Crut and Bruno Pasquier (chamber music). He was part of the renowned former Quatuor Ysaÿe that studied with the Amadeus Quartet, was winner of the competition in Evian and laureate in both Portsmouth and Trapani. They performed all over the world and made recordings for Harmonia Mundi, Philips and Decca.
Luc-Marie is professor of Violin and Chamber Music at the CRR de Paris Conservatory and a welcome guest at the NSKA. He gives a series of masterclasses twice a year. More information can be found in the agenda.
Gerhard Schulz was born in Linz and studied with Franz Samohyl at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna, with Sándor Végh at the Robert Schumann Hochschule Düsseldorf and with Shmuel Ashkenasi in the USA. He was involved in the founding of the Salzburg String Trio and the Schulz Ensemble and was first violinist of the Düsseldorf String Quartet.
Since 1980 Schulz has been professor of violin at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna and since 1993 he has also been a guest professor for chamber music at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln.
He was a member of the Alban Berg Quartet with which he played for more than 30 years in the most important music centres of the world. After the Alban Berg Quartet ended its concert activities in the summer of 2008, Schulz founded the piano quartet "Waldstein Ensemble".
He made his conducting debut in November 2009 with the Copenhagen Philharmonic and has since devoted himself to working with his students
Canadian cellist Denis Brott, artistic director of the Montreal Chamber Music Festival, has been a regular guest at the NSKA since 2018.
Inspired by chamber music, Denis played for eight years in the Orford Quartet with whom he made approximately 25 recordings. The quartet received the Grand Prix du Disque in 1988 for the recording of the complete Beethoven quartets and the Juno Awards for the best recording in the genre of chamber music in both 1985 and 1987. The Orford Quartet was named Ensemble of the Year 1986 by the Canadian Music Council. Brott has also performed as a guest player with the Emerson, Tokyo and St. Lawrence Quartet, among others.
Denis Brott has dedicated his life to passing on his knowledge and experience, including as a lecturer at the University of Toronto and the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara. He is currently a professor of cello and chamber music at the Conservatoire de musique du Québec in Montreal.
Joachim Eijlander was the founder of the award-winning former Rubens Quartet, with which he studied at the NSKA and performed in Europe, the US and Israel. He performed with the Borodin Quartet, Lisa Larsson, Robert Holl, Randall Scarlata, Inon Barnatan, Karl Leister and Godfried Hoogeveen and collaborated with composers such as Henri Dutilleux, György Kurtág, Sofia Gubaidulina, Louis Andriessen and Joey Roukens.
Joachim is a regular guest at international festivals such as Sitka (Alaska), Prussia Cove (UK), Schleswig-Holstein and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (D). He connects his music with dancers, visual artists and scientists in order to inspire a wider audience. His recordings of Bach's Cello Suites have been received with international acclaim.
He also increasingly wants to pass on his knowledge and experience. Since 2019 he has been a principal subject teacher at Codarts Rotterdam and since 2021 in Namur (B).
Eberhard Feltz was born in Kaliningrad and studied violin in Berlin and St. Petersburg. He pushed aside opportunities as a soloist and chamber musician in favor of a dedicated career as a pedagogue. Feltz has been affiliated with the Hochschule für Musik 'Hanns Eisler' in Berlin since 1963, from 1985 to 2002 as professor of Violin and Chamber Music. He is also still a much sought-after teacher internationally. Feltz is a mentor to numerous conductors, soloists and ensembles, including the Vogler, Kuss, Faust, Rubens, Atrium, Calder and Ebène Quartet.
For many years, Feltz has been a welcome and valued guest at the NSKA and provides two masterclass series per academic year. More information can be found in the agenda.
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