Artistes

Das Galatea Quartett wurde im Jahr 2005 gegründet. Seine Mitglieder sind die Geschwister Sarah und Julien Kilchenmann, Yuka Tsuboi und Hugo Bollschweiler. In den Anfängen war in Zürich die Arbeit mit Stephan Görner vom Carmina Quartett prägend und jene in Berlin mit dem Artemis Quartett. Früh schon wurden die Ensemblemitglieder als Stipendiatinnen und Stipendiaten der European Chamber Music Academy (ECMA) gefördert. Der befruchtende Austausch mit deren künstlerischem Leiter Hatto Beyerle hat sich bis heute erhalten. Rasch und anhaltend stellten sich Wettbewerbserfolge ein, unter anderem am Concours de Genève (2006), am Migros Kammermusikwettbewerb in Zürich (2007), am Internationalen Kammermusikwettbewerb in Osaka (2008) und am Streichquartett-Wettbewerb in Bordeaux (2010). Konzerttourneen führten durch ganz Europa – so auch in die Wigmore Hall, das Concertgebouw Amsterdam und die Tonhalle Zürich, aber auch nach Japan, Argentinien, Kanada, Israel und Indien. Das Galatea Quartett war Gast an bedeutenden Festivals, unter anderem bei der Società del Quartetto Milano, am Festival de Sion, an der EuroArt Prag und am Festival Pablo Casals und in Zürich bei den Festspielen und an den Tagen für Neue Musik.

2011 erschien bei Sony Classical das Debüt-Album „Bloch: Landscapes-Works for String Quartet“ mit Werken des schweizerisch-amerikanischen Komponisten Ernest Bloch. Das geschärfte Profil des Galatea Quartetts wird international wahrgenommen: 2012 wurde das Ensemble mit einem ECHO-Preis für die beste Kammermusikeinspielung des Jahres (20./21. JH.) ausgezeichnet und 2013 folgte die Ehrung mit dem renommierten Kulturförderpreis des Kantons Zürich. Das vielbesprochene Folge-Album des Ensemble erschien im März 2014 bei Sony Classical und vereint Werke der Belle Époque von Debussy, Menu und Milhaud. Neben dem klassischen Repertoire hat das Galatea Quartett immer auch ungewohntes Terrain erkundet und innovative, genreübergreifende Konzepte entworfen. Zum eigenständigen Profil des Quartetts trägt auch die Zusammenarbeit mit Isabel Mundry und Helmut Lachenmann bei. Das Engagement für zeitgenössische Schweizer Musik beweisen Uraufführungen von Werken von Martin Derungs, Hans Ulrich Lehmann, Heinz Marti, Peter Wettstein, Martin Schlumpf und Rodolphe Schacher. Das Galatea Quartett hat keine Berührungsängste: Crossover-Projekte sind beinahe alltäglich. Sie führten zur Zusammenarbeit mit dem finnischen Jazzpianisten Iiro Rantala, dem US-amerikanischen Komponisten Laurie Altman, Jon Lord (Deep Purple), Tina Turner, dem Chansonnier Tim Fischer und dem Schriftsteller Urs Faes sowie zu einer Aufführungsserie der Pink Floyd-Adaptation „To the Dark Side of the Moon“. Das Repertoire ist ebenso breit wie eigenwillig. Auch im Bereich der klassisch-romantischen Musik ist neben dem Kanon der Quartett-Literatur manches Unbekannte auszumachen. Die Abenteuerlust ist ansteckend: das Galatea Quartett hat sein Publikum gefunden und das Echo in der Fachwelt ist mehr als nur wohlwollend. “Tango”, das neuste musikalische Ausrufezeichen des Ensembles, unterstreicht die Lust auf die beständige, unangepasste Horizonterweiterung jenseits des Mainstreams.

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Formed in 2005, the Galatea Quartet consists of siblings Sarah and Julien Kilchenmann, Yuka Tsuboi and Hugo Bollschweiler. The quartet’s studies in Zurich with Stephan Görner of the Carmina Quartet and in Berlin with the Artemis Quartet were the basis of its formative early years. The group’s members soon became fellows of the European Chamber Music Academy (ECMA) and maintain a fruitful relationship with its founder Hatto Beyerle to this day. Competition successes soon followed: prizes include the Concours de Genève in 2006, Migros Kammermusikwettbewerb Zurich in 2007, the International Chamber Music Competition Osaka in 2008 and the String Quartet Competition Bordeaux in 2010. The quartet embarked on concert tours spanning Europe (Wigmore Hall, Amsterdam Concertgebouw and Tonhalle Zurich), Japan, Argentina, Canada, Israel and India and have been guests at some of the most important festivals including the Società del Quartetto Milano, Festival de Sion, EuroArt Prague, Festival Pablo Casals, Festspiele and Tage für neue Musik Zürich.

The ensemble’s debut album ‘Bloch: Landscapes-Music for String Quartet’ was released in 2011 by Sony Classical featuring works of the Swiss-American composer Ernest Bloch. The increased exposure led to international acclaim for the Galatea Quartet: in 2012 the ECHO Prize for Best Chamber Music Album (20th /21st century) was bestowed upon the group, shortly followed by the Kulturförderpreis of the Canton of Zurich in 2013. A much-anticipated sophomore album was released by Sony Classical in March 2014 with works from the Belle Epoque by Debussy, Menu and Milhaud. Besides the standard classical repertoire, entering new territory with innovative genre-crossing concepts plays an important role for the quartet, as evidenced by collaborations with Isabel Mundry and Helmut Lachenmann. Premieres of works by Martin Derungs, Hans-Ulrich Lehmann, Heinz Marti, Peter Wettstein, Martin Schlumpf and Rodolphe Schacher attest to a deep commitment to contemporary Swiss composers. Crossover projects are a staple, having lead to collaborations with Finnish jazz pianist Iiro Rantala, American composer Laurie Altman, Jon Lord (Deep Purple), Tina Turner, chansonier Tim Fischer and the author Urs Faes, as well as a performance series of the Pink Floyd adaptation “To the Dark Side of the Moon”. This unconventional and varied approach continues into the classical-romantic repertoire, where lesser-known works stand alongside mainstays of the quartet literature. This love of adventure is contagious and has been met by overwhelmingly positive responses from audiences and colleagues alike. “Tango”, the latest musical jewel from the Galatea Quartet reiterates this curiosity to expand horizons beyond the mainstream

Quatuor Galatea     
Membres 
Yula Tsuboi, Violin

Yuka Tsuboi was born in 1979 in Tokyo. In 1994 she was accepted into the Yehudi Menuhin School in England. Whilst there she played in many concerts in prestigious venues, such as the Royal Albert Hall and the Wigmore Hall. In 1998 she was invited by Lord Menuhin to play with the Philharmonia Hungarica in Germany. She continued her studies in Zurich in 2001 and played with Aargauer Symphonie Orchester, Akademisches Orchester and Orchester Musikhochschule and recorded for Schweizer Fernsehen and TV Espana. She won several international prize including the Rodolfo Lipizer Violin Competition in Italy, the Kiwanis Competition in Switzerland and the Sarasate Violin Competition in Spain. She also won scholarships from the Manoug Parikian Award, Yamaha Scholarship Competition and Margrit Meister Foundation in Zurich. Yuka Tsuboi studied with Kumiko Eto, Hu Kun, Ana Chumachenco and Zakhar Bron. She is currently working as an assistant to Zakhar Bron at Zurich Musikhochschule. She has taken several masterclasses with Yehudi Menuhin and Maurizio Fuks.

Sarah Kilchenmann, Violin

Sarah Kilchenmann, born in 1981, begins violin studies with U. Romanato at the Fribourg Conservatory and continues with Prof. Gyula Stuller graduating with a ‘Lehrdiplom’. From 2003, she studies with Prof. Christine Busch at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Stuttgart and graduates with a ‘Künstlerischen Ausbildung’ and ‘Solistendiplom’. She has won various prizes, including 2nd Prize at the ‘Young Instrumentalists’ in Piracicaba, Brazil and scholarships from the Friedl Wald Foundation and L-Bank. She was section leader in the Swiss Youth Symphony Orchestra and is active in projects featuring period instruments. She has taken part in masterclasses with Tibor Varga, Boris Kuschnir and Michèle Auclair.

Hugo Bollschweiler, Viola

A native of Switzerland, Hugo Bollschweiler received his training at the Conservatoire de Fribourg,the Musik-Akademie Basel, Johns Hopkins’ Peabody Institute of Music and the Zurich Hochschule der Künste where he earned his soloist diploma with the highest distinction.

He has toured five continents and performed and taught at the Mostly Mozart, Tanglewood, Lucerne, Donaueschingen, Davos, Montreux, Kuhmo, and Yellow Barn festivals, and the New Zealand and Hong Kong Arts festivals. As a member of the Azmari Quartet, the Patricia A. Corbett String Quartet-in-Residence at Northern Kentucky University, Hugo served as faculty member and Artist-in-Residence at NKU where he taught as Professor of Viola and served as artistic director of the Norse Chamber Music Festival. Hugo was on the faculty of the Cincinnati College Conservatory Accent09 Festival, Norse Chamber Music Festival, the Austin Chamber Music Festival and Workshop and the Escola de Musica do Estado de Sao Paulo and has been touring the US as guest artist with the Coolidge and Colorado String Quartets. As an orchestral musician, Hugo played in principal positions with the Swiss Chamber Orchestra, the Swiss National Youth Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestre de Chambre de Fribourg, the Peabody Symphony Orchestra and the Orchestre Phiharmonique Suisse.

Julien Kilchenmann, Cello

Julien Kilchenmann was born in 1979 and started learning the Cello at the Conservatoire of Fribourg with Simon Zeller. He studied with Walter Grimmer and Roel Dieltiens at the Musikhochschule Zurich from where he finished his Concert Diploma in 2004. In 1994 he won the 2nd Prize at the International Music Competition in Picaracicaba (Brazil). In 2003 he won the “Fonds Pierre et Renée Glasson” Competition in Fribourg and the same year the 1st Prize at the International Chamber Music Competition (piano trio) in Minerbio in Italy. In 2006 he received the 1 st Prize at the Ninck Competition in Zurich. He has taken several masterclasses with Bernhard Greenhouse and David Geringas. He is active in several chamber Orchestras and is performing in Theater and Crossover Projects. When he is not playing music he is probably Windsurfing or taking landscape pictures…
Julien Kilchenmann plays a Bernardo Calcanius Cello (Genoa c.1750)