Considered one of the quartets with the most significant reach and reputation, the Quartet Gerhard is distinguished by its remarkable sensitivity for sound and deep respect for music as one of the most important human endeavours.
As a quartet, their primary influences have come from Basel (Rainer Schmidt), Berlin (Eberhard Feltz), Hanover (Oliver Wille) and Madrid (Günter Pichler). In Hannover, they were the first to graduate with first-class honours in chamber music in the history of the Hochschüle.
Winners of several national and international prizes, the Quartet Gerhard has performed on many renowned international stages, including the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, the Mozart Festival Würzburg and Heidelberger Frühling (Germany), the Stadt-Casino chamber music season in Basel (Switzerland), the Bordeaux String Quartet Festival and the Radio France Montpellier Festival (France), the Musikamera season at La Fenice in Venice (Italy) and the Concertgebouw and Muziekgebouw in Amsterdam (Holland), among others. They have also been invited to prestigious summer festivals such as the Schubertiada in Vilabertran, the Pau Casals Festival in El Vendrell, Porta Ferrada and Verbier. Also noteworthy is their commitment to new creation, performing in prestigious cycles and festivals such as Kunstfest Weimar, the Nuit de la creation at the Aix-en-Provence Festival and at the Arnold Schoenberg Center in Vienna.
They became the first ensemble-in-residence at the Palau de la Música Catalana and have been selected for several other long-term projects, including performing the complete Shostakovich quartets at the Auditori Josep Carreras in Vila-seca the Torroella de Montgrí Festival and the Quincena Musical de San Sebastián. Since the 2022/23 season, they have been part of the European Merita circuit, giving them further international recognition.
Their performances have been broadcast by Catalunya Música, RNE (Radio Nacional de España), NDR and SWR (Germany), the BBC (UK) and France Musique (France). In terms of recording, of particular note is their album Portrait (Seed Music 2016) – winner of the 2016 critics’ award for best CD, a release featuring works by Kurtag, Berg and Schumann (Harmonia Mundi
International 2017) and an album released with the French record company Klarthe (2023) featuring works by Ramon Humet and Debussy, which won the award for “Best Classical Album” from the Enderrock Group’s 440 magazine.
