New Video
The Central European String Quartet plays the Menuett of Haydn’s “Lark" String Quartet in D Major, Op. 64/5. Recorded in June 2019.
World Premier of Leonardo Mezzalira’s Work by the Central European String Quartet
The premier of Leonardo Mezzalira’s Quartetto del pulsare e dell' affiorare, which captured the 1st Prize at the CESQ 1st International Composition Competition, took place on 24 February 2019 at the Óbudai Társaskör in Budapest. In addition, the CESQ performed the work on 18 April at the Liszt Academy of Music’s Solti Hall, as well as on 11 June at the Marble Hall of the Hungarian Radio. The quartet’s performance on 11 June was later broadcasted by the Bartók Radio.
The Central European String Quartet makes its debut in Austria
On 22 and 23 October 2019, the CESQ will make its debut in Salzburg, Austria. The location of the concerts is Schloss Mirabell’s Marble Hall, one of the most beautiful and historically significant concert halls of the world, where the family of Mozart once performed. The quartet will perform string quartets of Haydn, Mozart, Schubert, and Dvorak.
Results of the CESQ 1st International Composition Competition
Thank you to all of the 75 composers from 27 countries around the globe who took part in our competition this year, and congratulations to the winners!
1st prize:
Leonardo Mezzalira (Italy)
"Quartetto del pulsare e dell' affiorare" (2018)
Best Lark Award:
Krasimir Draganov Taskov (Bulgaria) "Charmed Lark"(2018)
Most Innovative: Amy Brandon (Canada) "Aperture" (2018)
Most Entertaining: Xubin Ma (China) "The Lark from Buenos Aires" (2018)
Prize of the Liszt Academy Foundation: The committee of the Liszt Academy Foundation awards the prize to a doctoral candidate Máté Balogh (Hungary)
"Lerchenquartett-Hommage a J. Haydn" (2018)
Debut of the Central European Strings
On 2 September 2019, the newly founded chamber orchestra, Central European Strings, made its much-anticipated debut at the Closing Concert of the 1st New Millennium International Chamber Music Festival. The orchestra consists of the Central European String Quartet in the principal positions, joined by members of Hungary’s top orchestras. The orchestra’s goal is to display the intimacy and energy of the CESQ in a bigger apparatus. The program consisted of works by C.P.E. Bach, Elgar, Händel, Spohr, Tartini, and Tchaikovsky. Soloists Klára Bábel (harp), Bartosz Koziak (cello), Miranda Liu (violin), and the winners of the NMICMF’s Concerto Competition performed with the orchestra. Summer Festival Appearances
This summer, the CESQ was the Ensemble in Residence of the 1st New Millennium International Chamber Music Festival in Budapest. In addition to string quartets by Debussy and Janacek, the quartet performed chamber works by Brahms and Ravel, in collaboration with artists László Móré (viola), Bartosz Koziak (cello), Noémi Győri (flute), Csaba Klenyán (clarinet), and Klára Bábel (harp). In July 2019, the CESQ performed at the Valley of Arts Festival (Művészetek Völgye) and the Klassz a pARTon Festival with great success.