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. It was as close to perfection as to be beyond reproach. Magical.” Likewise the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung described the quartet's most recent appearance at the Rheingau Music Festival as “a great moment of chamber music” and the Süddeutsche Zeitung praises “An audacious intense performance, demonstrating quartet playing at the highest level of sophistication”.

In 1994 the Henschel siblings 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, Franz Beyer, 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.

This season’s engagements include amongst others tours of Germany, Italy, Scandinavia, Spain, England, Luxembourg, China, Canada and two tours of the USA, including a return to Los Angeles’ Music Guild Series. The Henschel Quartet has recently played its third BBC Proms appearance, the premiere of a newly discovered string quintet by Max Bruch at the Wigmore Hall London, appeared at the Royal Spanish Court in Madrid, at Brussels Bozar as “Cultural Ambassadors” for Germany and performed at the re-opening of the Anna-Amalia Library in Germany (UNESCO World Culture Heritage). 

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, Sharon Kam, Till Fellner, Anna Gourari, Julie Kaufmann, Christian Elsner, Carol Rodland and Magdalena Kozena. Each summer the Henschel Quartet presents its own festival in the old monastery of Seligenstadt in Germany. In 2007 this festival at “Germany`s nicest open air venue” (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung) celebrated its 10^th anniversary, for which 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 Quartet's teaching activities takes them to major conservatories at home and abroad.

The Henschel Quartet’s recent recording of Beethoven String Quartet’s op 18/6 & op 127 at SONY BMG continues to receive critical acclaim from the international press. The new prize-winning CD label NEOS Music gives the Henschel Quartet carte blanche and has released 3 new recordings in 2009, including Max Bruch´s newly discovered string quintet, which was awarded CD of he Year 2009 from International MusicWeb.

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 by 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.