LATEST NEWS
2nd Prize at Bordeaux International Competition 2022
We are very pleased to share that we have won the 2nd Prize and the special prize for the best interpretation of Kaija Saariaho's "Terra Memoria" at the 2022 edition of the Vibre International String Quartet Competition in Bordeaux! The ensemble receives €10,000 and 4 high-tech cases from Bam [...]
ABOUT US
“One must still have chaos in oneself to be able to give birth to a dancing star.”
Founded on the principles of the rich interdisciplinary concept of “Chaos”, the Chaos String Quartet’s members Susanne Schäffer, Eszter Kruchió, Sara Marzadori, and Bas Jongen share the conviction to explore extremes, to take risks, and to welcome the unpredictable.
Winners of the 2nd Prize and three special prizes at the 2021 Bartók World Competition and the XI. Premio V. E. Rimbotti in Italy, the Chaos String Quartet was invited to music festivals such as the Davos Festival, the Ravenna Festival, the Gent Festival van Vlaanderen, Musica Insieme Bologna, Lockenhaus, Festival Academy Budapest, Steirisches Kammermusikfestival Graz, Beethoven Frühling Baden, Musethica Zaragoza, Festival del Quartetto Firenze and Wien Modern. At the 65th Jeunesses Musicales International Chamber Music Campus Weikersheim they were awarded the prize for the most promising newcomer ensemble 2020, which includes a performance at the Heidelberger Streichquartettfest 2023.
Mentored by Prof. Johannes Meissl in Vienna through the ECMAster Programme, the quartet is additionally completing a postgraduate course at the Scuola di Musica di Fiesole with the Cuarteto Casals and Heime Müller (Artemis Quartet). The ensemble received additional musical impulses from artists such as Eberhard Feltz, Patrick Jüdt, Hatto Beyerle (Alban Berg Quartet), Clive Brown, Hariolf Schlichtig (Cherubini Quartet), Rainer Schmidt (Hagen Quartet), András Keller (Keller Quartet) and Oliver Wille (Kuss Quartet).
Furthermore, the quartet is a member of the Chamber Music Association Le Dimore del Quartetto.
The Chaos String Quartet is involved in developing multi-art concepts and performances and for the season 2021/2022, can be heard on concert stages in Austria, Italy, Hungary, the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, and Switzerland.
THE QUARTET
SUSANNE SCHÄFFER
VIOLIN
Born into a musical household, Hungarian-German violinist Susanne Schäffer studied with Dr. Felix Andrievsky in London and Prof. Dora Schwarzberg at the MDW in Vienna, where she graduated with distinction. She is currently completing her studies in chamber music with Prof. Johannes Meissl at her alma mater in Vienna.
Her additional musical mentors include such artists as Hatto Beyerle, Gerhard Schulz, Ferenc Rados and Steven Isserlis.
A prizewinner at renowned national and international music competitions, Schäffer regularly performs as a soloist and chamber musician, including on concert tours throughout Europe, Israel, Venezuela, the USA and Japan.
Moreover, Susanne is a welcomed guest at prestigious festivals such as the Cully Classique Festival, the ISA Festival, and IMS Prussia Cove. She regularly appears on television, and on broadcast and has recorded several CDs.
ESZTER KRUCHIÓ
VIOLIN
Eszter Kruchió started playing the violin at the age of five. Born in 1993 in Budapest and brought up in Vienna, she studied with Ernst Kovacic (Vienna), Tanja Becker-Bender (Hamburg) and Ulf Schneider (Hanover), currently in the postgraduate Solo Performance Class. She received further important musical impulses from Oliver Wille, Eberhard Feltz, Ralf Gothóni, Rita Wagner, Ferenc Rados and Péter Eötvös, among others.
As a winner of several national and international prizes, Eszter has had the chance to perform as a chamber music partner of Thomas Riebl, Tanja Becker-Bender, Péter Nagy, István Várdai and Claudio Martínez-Mehner, as well as with the Castalian, Berlin-Tokyo and Van Kuijk String Quartets. She is a frequent participant in festivals and masterclasses such as Encuentro de Santander, the Davos Festival – Young Artists in Concert, Sommerliche Musiktage Hitzacker and IMS Prussia Cove.
Eszter plays on a violin by Stefan-Peter Greiner, a generous private loan.
SARA MARZADORI
VIOLA
A devoted chamber- and orchestral musician, Italian violist Sara Marzadori studied with Antonello Farulli in Bologna and Thomas Riebl in Salzburg before earning her master’s degree in 2017 from the Mozarteum Salzburg in the classes of William Coleman and Veronika Hagen.
Furthermore, she studied quartet chamber music with Walter Levin and Oliver Wille in Basel and Hannover, respectively, and received further musical training from Bruno Giuranna, Kim Kashkashian, among others.
Marzadori became a regular member of Orchestra Mozart under the direction of Claudio Abbado after having been admitted to the Orchestra Academy at age 15 and was a member of the EUYO, the Gustav Mahler Academy as well as the Luzern Academy.
Sara won prizes at several instrumental and chamber music competitions and plays regularly with the Camerata Salzburg, Orchestra Leonore, Spira Mirabilis and the Haydn Philharmonic.
BAS JONGEN
CELLO
Born in the Netherlands, Bas Jongen studied cello in Amsterdam and Zagreb before completing his undergraduate studies with Reinhard Latzko at the MDW in Vienna. In 2017, he obtained his master’s from the Royal College of Music in Stockholm in the class of Torleif Thedéen. Having a keen interest in science, Bas also studies Natural Sciences (Physics) at the Open University.
He received further musical impulses from respected artists such as Heinrich Schiff, Frans Helmerson, Anner Bijlsma, Natalia Gutman as well as Johannes Meissl, Miguel da Silva, Andras Keller and Petr Prause.
A laureate of national and international music competitions, Jongen gave recitals and appeared as a soloist all over Europe, as well as the US, Brazil, Japan, Korea and Australia.
Bas Jongen plays a rare cello by Hendrick Jacobs (Amsterdam, ±1690), kindly loaned to him from the collection of the Dutch National Musical Instruments Foundation.
GALLERY
LISTEN. WATCH. DISCOVER.
REPERTOIRE 2021-2022
J. S. BACH
Kunst der Fuge, BWV 1080
The Well-Tempered Clavier (Selection)
B. BARTÓK
String Quartet No. 4
L. van BEETHOVEN
String Quartet in E Minor, Op. 59/2 “Razumovsky”
String Quartet in B-Flat Major, Op. 130
Grosse Fuge, Op. 133
H. BOSMANS
String Quartet (1927)
C. DEBUSSY
String Quartet in G Minor, Op.10
J. HAYDN
String Quartet in F Minor, Op. 20/5
String Quartet in F Major, Op. 77/2
H. LACHENMANN
String Quartet No. 2 “Reigen seliger Geister”
Gy. LIGETI
String Quartet No. 1 “Metamorphoses nocturnes”
F. MENDELSSOHN
String Quartet in A Minor, Op. 13
W. A. MOZART
String Quartet in D Major, KV. 499 “Hoffmeister”
K. SAARIAHO
“Terra memoria” (2006)
F. SCHUBERT
“Quartettsatz” in C Minor, D 703
C. SHAW
“Entr’acte” (2011)
R. SCHUMANN
String Quartet in A Major, Op. 41/3
A. WEBERN
5 Movements, Op. 5
LINKS
