Instrumental Ensembles
Artis Quartet Vienna |
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Peter Schuhmayer, 1st Violin
Johannes Meissl, 2nd Violin
Herbert Kefer, Viola
Othmar Müller,Violoncello
Since its founding in 1980, Artis Quartet has performed to highest acclaim at most of the prestigious concert venues throughout the world. The quartet has toured the United States on a regular basis since 1992. This performance marks the ensemble’s debut at the Metropolitan Museum’s renowned Arts & Lectures series in New York City.
Recent US highlights include their appearance at the Library of Congress in Washington, DC, the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles (2006/2007) and at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC (2007/2008). In 2008, the quartet celebrated 20 years of their annual performance series at Vienna’s Musikverein in Austria. The seasons 09/10 touring activities include concerts in Paris, London, Mexico City, Israel, Germany, Belgium, Austria, France, Switzerland, Poland, Greece and Ireland.
Their recent recording, quartets by Egon Wellesz was released in
2008 (Nimbus) and was awarded the MIDEM CLASSICAL AWARD 2009 in Cannes,
France.
Notable moments of the quartet' s activities include their performance
at New York’s Carnegie Hall (Stern Auditorium) and a highly
praised cycle of all twenty-three Mozart quartets in a series of
concerts in Vienna and Tokyo’s Suntory Hall. This success was
repeated with cycles of the complete Schubert quartets at the Concertgebow
in Amsterdam, De Doelen in Rotterdam and at the Musikverein in Vienna.
The Artis Quartet has participated at major international festivals such as: Salzburger Festspiele, Vienna and Berlin Festwochen, Schleswig Holstein Festival, Ravinia Festival, Orford Festival, Ludwigsburger Schlossfestspiele, Lockenhaus, Turku, Naantali,Kuhmo, Gstaad, Prades, Granada, Bournemouth, Hong Kong, Paris, Colmar, Schubertiade, Wien Modern, Salzburger Mozartwoche, Carinthischer Sommer, Brucknerfest Linz and Klangspuren Schwaz, among others.
Peter Schuhmayer plays a violin by Johann Rombach (2001). The
three other instruments are on loan from the Austrian National Bank's
collection of musical instruments, including Johannes Meissl's A.Guarneri
(1690) violin, Herbert Kefer's J.B.Guadagnini (1784) viola and Othmar
Müller's A.Amati, 1573) cello.
The ensemble has recorded more than 30 CDs for Sony Classical, Nimbus
Records, CBS/Sony, Orfeo, Accord and Koch/Schwann. In addition
to the "classical" quartet repertoire, they also performed
works by Wolf, Webern, Magnard, Dohnanyi, v. Einem, Zipper, Dünser,
Eröd, Wisser, Gielen, Schönberg, Weigl, Zemlinsky and Berg.
The Artis Quartet has been honored with international awards including the Grand Prix International du Disque/Academie Charles Cros, the Prix Caecilia, the INDIE Award, the Diapason d’Or, the Vienna Floetenuhr, and the German ‘Echo Prize.’ The quartet was also nominated for the Gramophone Award for ‘Best 20th Century Chamber Music CD.’
Artis Quartet has premiered many works by contemporary composers such as Gottfried v. Einem, Helmut Eder, Ian Wilson, Thomas Pernes, Richard Duenser, Gerhard E. Winkler, Thomas Larcher, Gerhard Schedl, Haimo Wisser, Wolfgang Kubizek, Harry Pepl, Antonio Pino Vargas, Tania Gabrielle French and Jeffrey Mumford.
Studying at the University of Music in Vienna, the Artis Quartet
formed in 1980. Since its inception, the quartet’s members
have remained the same. They won prizes in competitions in Cambridge,
England (1983), Evian, France (1984) and Yellow Springs, USA (1985).
Receiving the Friedlander Fellowship in 1984/85, they studied with
the LaSalle Quartet at the College Conservatory of Music, University
of Cincinnati, USA. All four members reside in Vienna. They teach
at the Universities of Vienna and Graz and give master classes around
the world.