News

The Aris Quartet has had a fascinating winter: the release of Ludwig van Beethoven’s Rasumovsky Quartets on Deutsche Grammophon may well mark one of the ensemble’s most important milestones in recent years. If you missed the spectacular images from the historic Rasumovsky Palace in Vienna, be sure to take a moment to catch up!

While numerous concerts with wonderful colleagues filled the schedule in wintry Germany, the quartet was also able to soak up a bit of sunshine in California - especially magical San Francisco, which has truly captured the musicians’ hearts. A special thank-you goes to the wonderful Sophia Jaffé, who stepped in on short notice for the pregnant violinist Anna Katharina and enriched the tour with her presence.

Another special project is developing very promisingly: the chamber orchestra The Trinity Sinfonia, founded by the Aris Quartet and pianist Fabian Müller, recently made a strong impression with a concert at the Cologne Philharmonie - and many more performances are already planned for this year. Here’s to an exciting and inspiring 2026! 

Sometimes even musicians who have been around the world can be amazed—and that's how the Aris Quartet felt more than once during this eventful autumn!

Whether it was the spectacular scenery at the summit concert on the Fellhorn, a picturesque cruise to Great Britain, the enchantingly illuminated Philharmonie Essen, and last but not least, a North American tour with stops in L.A., Vancouver, and Vermont—sometimes just a few weeks can offer enough highlights for an entire year!

Of course, there was also music to be heard—and how wonderful it was to be able to share these special experiences with fantastic colleagues: Daniel Müller-Schott (cello), Christiane Karg (voice), Stephen Waarts (violin), actor Dominique Horwitz, and pianists Claire Huangci, Lukas Sternath, and Annika Treutler not only made for a wonderful time on a personal level, but also for numerous exceptional musical moments—what great musicians, what wonderful weeks!

This summer, the ARIS Quartet offered a varied program that went far beyond the classical string quartet repertoire: a particular highlight was a “poetic journey”—a music and reading format celebrating the 150th birthday of Maurice Ravel in Leverkusen with actor Dominique Horwitz, which opened up completely new perspectives on Ravel's work. Incidentally, the concert will be broadcast on September 15, 2025, at 8:03 p.m. as part of the ARD Radio Festival – be sure to tune in!

The Aris Quartet had the honor of performing twice at the renowned Schubertiade – first in Hohenems with the famous Schubert Octet and then in Schwarzenberg in an emotional recital with the wonderful Christiane Karg.

Further concerts at the Kassel Music Festival, a performance at the Mozart Festival in Würzburg that was highly praised by the FAZ, the anniversary concert of “Villa Musica” at Engers Castle, and the season finale at the Mosel Music Festival in Trier made for a busy schedule, but also for numerous inspiring encounters and moving chamber music – a season that leaves us wanting more!

If you ask musicians about the worst and best parts of their profession, the answer is usually “traveling” in both cases - understandably, if you look at the Aris Quartet's tour schedule in spring 2025. 

In March, they once again visited the USA: in addition to (now) well-known stops such as California and Illinois, this time the first visit to Arizona was particularly memorable - on top of an enthusiastically received concert in Tucson, there was also the opportunity for a short detour to the incomparable Grand Canyon.

A truly remarkable location for the history of the string quartet can be found near Vienna in the picturesque Esterhazy Palace: Grand Master Joseph Haydn worked here for many years of his life and several of his quartets were premiered at this place - a very special concert feeling for the musicians in April!

A little later, they went to Israel for the first time: an incredibly fascinating trip to a diverse country: whether in historic Jerusalem or in the vibrant coastal city of Tel Aviv - the question of the most beautiful aspects of being a musician was - despite visa stress, luggage and airport lines - extremely easy to answer this time!

Here we go: the first concert of the new year took place on January 6th in the great hall of the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg.

A special honor - an extensive Brahms festival was celebrated with great music and fantastic chamber music partners: Liisa Randalu, Stefan Heinemeyer and Thorsten Johanns!

Other prestigious venues in January included the Mercatorhalle in Duisburg and the Krönungssaal in Aachen - while in Bad Säckingen, on the other hand, a curious situation had to be overcome: due to a burst water pipe in the Kursaal, the concert had to be canceled at short notice, but don't worry: an alternative date on May 4th has already been found.

An enriching start to the new year and the musicians are now looking forward to March: a new tour of the USA is just around the corner, including stops in Illinois, California and Arizona!

Although the Advent season is always peaceful in theory, in reality it is unfortunately often quite stressful - especially when a CD and video production is also due between concerts in Aschaffenburg, Lippstadt, Weikersheim, Munich, Bad Homburg, Flörsheim, Berlin, Frankfurt and Erbach. Normally, this is a very tedious and complicated task - but this time it was an absolute pleasure in the legendary Teldex Studio Berlin with its ideal acoustics and perfect external conditions: the recording of Jean Sibelius' Piano Quintet with the fabulous pianist Annika Treutler, which will be released next year, is certainly something to look forward to! 

In Munich, the Aris Quartet also had the great pleasure of performing together with Omer Klein in the brand new “Kulturkraftwerk” Bergson - the former thermal power station boasts spectacular architecture and is currently an absolute insider tip! After the final hometown concert at the Alte Oper Frankfurt in December, the musicians are now taking a well-deserved winter break with their families - we wish you a wonderful Advent season, relaxing holidays and a happy new year! Start the new year with good music - and experience the Aris Quartet live on January 06th 2025 in the Great Hall of the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg!!!

New season, new (musical) fortune: the Aris Quartet is well rested for the start of autumn and a brand new season with exciting projects, fascinating tours and a delightful program!

The season kicked off with a double concert on September 3rd and 4th at the “vielsaitig” festival in Füssen. Exceptional musician and jazz pianist Omer Klein also took part: their joint program “Shake it” combines classical music and jazz in a fascinating way - including exclusive new compositions and arrangements by Omer Klein!

The musicians could then be experienced in an unusual line-up at the Beethovenfest Bonn: together with pianist Fabian Müller and ensemble friends, the Aris Quartet founded a brand new chamber orchestra last year, the “Trinity Sinfonia”, which shone this time with Beethoven symphonies in Bonn and Weikersheim (19.+21.09.) - not only a musical delight, but also a joyful change in the quartet's everyday life!

Tradition was then the focus in October: there was a concert highlight at the venerable Schubertiade on October 5 with the magnificent William Youn at the piano - a music festival that should be an absolute must for every classical music lover!

In the "sacred halls"" of the Beethovenhaus Bonn, there was a special debut on 11.10., this time with a pure quartet line-up, which captivated with "quartet art at the very highest level... and a finely balanced ensemble sound”. (Generalanzeiger Bonn)

The festival "Gegen den Strom" on October 12th in the opulent Marmorsaal Bad Ems marked the sonorous conclusion of the concert phase - it can and should go on like this! See you soon and best musical regards!

Final push! In July, all forces were mobilized once again at the end of the season: numerous notes, kilometers of travel and even a drop or two of sweat in sunny weather had to be put in before the start of the well-deserved vacation!

At the beginning of the month, they returned to the fine chamber music series at Leitheim Castle (13.07) - a concert “carried by the highest unity, with vital precision and stirring energy”, as the Augsburger Allgemeine reported.

The Aris Quartet was then given a special honor on 17.07: the ensemble was a guest in the Deutschlandfunk studio on “Klassik,Pop, etc”: in the cult show, the musicians present their favorite music and playlists - we will of course let you know the broadcast date in advance!!!

Since winning the Audience Award in 2019, the Aris Quartet has been an annual guest at the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival - this time in Penzlin (18.07): one of the largest European music festivals, which nevertheless manages to create a personal, almost familiar atmosphere every time! With pianist Claire Huangci, there was also a wonderful debut at the Tyrolean Festival Erl on 25.07: in the spectacular architecture of the Festspielhaus, there were many unknown, but no less brilliant works to be heard with Hensel, Barber and the piano quintet by Cesar Franck!

Old friends were then met in Staufen (28.07): the Aris Quartet has been faithfully associated with promoter Wolfgang Schäfer and his Staufen Music Week for many years - a successful conclusion to the intensive season! 

Now we wish you and the musicians a relaxing, restful and wonderful summer - see you soon!!!