Henschel Quartet

Christoph Henschel, Violin
Markus Henschel, Violin
Monika Henschel-Schwind, Viola
Mathias Beyer-Karlshøj, Cello

After a sold out concert at London's Wigmore Hall Paul Cutts in  "The Strad" wrote “The Henschel Quartet's concert was a highlight of my concert-going year. The Henschel's Beethoven op.59 no.3 in C major was delivered with a brio and confidence that senior quartets rarely muster, it was as close to perfection as to be beyond reproach. Magical.” Likewise the FAZ newspaper described the quartet's most recent appearance at the Rheingau Music Festival as “a great moment of chamber music."

In 1994 the Henschel siblings, Christoph, Markus and Monika, had the great fortune to find the ideal cello partner in Mathias Beyer-Karlshøj. In their intensive years of study with Felix Andrievsky, Thorleif Thedeen, Sergiu Celibidache, the Amadeus Quartet and later with members of the Alban Berg and La Salle Quartets the young artists were confronted with the highest international standards. In 1995 the Henschel Quartet were prize-winners of no less than five prizes at International String Quartet competitions in Evian, Banff and Salzburg for the best interpretation of works ranging from Mozart up to contemporary composers. In 1996 they won the first prize and gold medal at the coveted Osaka International String Competition. Highly acclaimed debut concerts in many of Europe's prestigious concert halls helped to firmly establish the Henschel Quartet as one of today's leading string quartets. Constant critical acclaim has led to an impressive international career.

The 2006-07 season included their third BBC Proms appearance, concerts in the Wigmore Hall London, the Tivoli Copenhagen, the Alte Oper Frankfurt, the Prinzregententheater in Munich, the Philharmonie Essen, the Meran Festival and the Europalia Festival at Boxar in Bruxelles. Their USA engagements have included a residency at the Tanglewood Festival and successful tours in April 2007 and May 2008, including a master class at the Boston Conservatory. The Quartet undertook its eleventh concert tour of Japan in November 2007, which included a masterclass at Japan’s famous Geidai University. Japanese audiences recently saw the Henschel Quartet in a nationwide broadcast of a one-hour NHK TV portrait.

In addition to performances as a quartet, they also appear regularly with other musicians. Amongst those who have performed with the Henschel Quartet are members of the Amadeus Quartet, the Cherubini Quartet, Radovan Vladkowitsch, Sharon Kam, Till Fellner, Anna Gourari, Julie Kaufmann and Magdalena Kozena. Each summer the Henschel Quartet presents its own festival in Germany under the title “Trilogy” when it is joined by quartet colleagues. The Henschel Quartet and the well-know visual artist J. K. Park will collaborate on the exciting new project combing art & music “Kammer.Chamber.Camera” – combing the visual and audible aspects of their respective fields.

The Henschel Quartet’s most recent recording of Beethoven String Quartet’s op 18/6 & op 127 continues to receive critical acclaim from the international press.  The Quartet’s discography includes Respighi's "Il Tramonto" and selected pieces by Schulhoff with the mezzo-soprano Magdalena Kozena on the Deutsche Grammophon label (Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik).  The Ginastera production was released to great critical acclaim in Gramophone.  The release of Mendelssohn's Complete String Quartets on the Arte Nova/SonyBMG label was nominated for the MIDEM Awards in Cannes 2006 as well as receiving the accolade of “Recording of the Year” 2005 by Michael Cookson on International Music Web. It was ranked No.1 in the Top 10 classical CDs on the HMV Charts in Japan in 2006 and 2007.