BISQC Concert 11: Beethoven/Schubert + 20th Century

Taiga Sasaki (he/him) - violin, Japan
Yu Mita (he/him) - violin, Japan
Jiliang Shi (he/him) - viola, China
Hotaka Sakai (he/him)- cello, Japan

The Quartet KAIRI is a Salzburg-based string quartet currently studying under Professor Rainer Schmidt (Hagen Quartett) and Professor Cibrán Sierra Vázquez (Cuarteto Quiroga) at the Universität Mozarteum Salzburg. They began working as an ensemble during their studies at the Tokyo College of Music under the guidance of professor Saiko Azuma.

In winter 2023, Chinese violist Jiliang Shi joined the quartet's founding members: Taigaa Saski, Yu Mita and Hotaka Sakai.

January 2024, the Quartet KAIRI were invited to collaborate with the Salzburg Marionette Theatre during the "Mozartwoche" Music Festival. Additionally they were also part of the Fuji Mountain Music Festival, during which they performed with a renowned clarinettist Peter Schmidl (Former Principal Clarinetist of the Vienna Philharmoniker).

In Fall 2024, the Quartet KAIRI won first prize at the International Competition "Premio Annarose Taddei" in Rome.

They also received second prize (first prize not awarded) at the Japan Classical Music Competition in Tokyo.

They have participated in numerous masterclasses by renowned artists such as Günter Pichler during the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival and Jonathan Brown at the Guadix International String Quartet Seminar.

The word "Kairi" (Japanese) can be translated as a sea mile. The name of the quartet represents the strong will to cross human and musical boundaries of the sea and land in order to make music accessible to everyone despite of one's background. They strongly believe in the universality of the musical language that can be "spoken" and understood by each and every one of us. 

Ida Derbesse (she/her) - violin, France-Poland
Elena Watson-Perry (she/her), France-U.S.A
Claire Pass-Lanneau (she/they), France
Fiona Robson (she/her) - cello, Canada

The Quatuor Magenta was founded in 2021 and is already performing on France's most prestigious stages, from the Philharmonie de Paris to the Festival de RadioFrance Montpellier. They were finalists of the 8th Joseph Haydn Chamber Music Competition in Vienna and prizewinners at the 2023 FNAPEC competition and the 2022 Zukunftsklang Competition Stuttgart. November 2024 marked the quartet's first international tour to Canada, generously supported by the CNM and SPEDIDAM.

The Quatuor Magenta is based in Paris, France, where they are junior artist-in-residence at the Singer-Polignac Foundation and ensemble-in-residence at Propquartet - CEMC. They have been invited to perform at numerous festivals in France, including the Musikfest Parisienne, the Festival de la Chaise-Dieu, Un Temps pour Elles, Un Été en France with Gautier Capuçon and the Quatuor Modigliani's Festival Vibre!, as well as in Switzerland (Festival de la Collégiale in Neuchâtel) and in Germany (Klangraum Konzerte in Cologne).

Last season, contemporary music had pride of place with Qutauor Magenta's participation in the Kronos Quartet's "50 for the Future" Marathon at the Philharmonie de Paris's String Quartet Biennale. Their 2024/25 season included several octet performances alongside the renowned Quatuor Van Kuijk, in partnership with La Belle Saison.

The Quatuor Magenta participated in the inaugural year of the Élite program at the École Normale de Paris, under the mentorship of the Quatuor Modigliani. Other important mentors include the Quatuor Ébène, and Rainer Schmidt of the Hagen Quartet. They are grateful for the support of the Safran Foundation and ADAMI. 

Chaeann Jeon (she/her) - violin, South Korea
Eunjoong Park (he/him) - violin, South Korea
Yoonsun Jang (she/her) - viola, South Korea
Seonghyeon Park (he/him) - cello, South Korea

Founded in September 2019, Arete Quartet passed unanimously the Kumho Art Hall Young chamber concert audition the same year and made its debut in September 2020 at Kumho Art Hall Yonsei University. After studying with Jaeyoung Kim, first violin of the Novus Quartet, the young quartet performed in various venues in Korea before moving to Munich, Germany, to study with Crisoph Poppen at the Hoschule für Musik und Theater.

During its young career as a quartet, the Arete Quartet has already won a number of important prizes: First prize at the Prague Spring International Music Competition (2021), First prize at the Salzburg Mozart International Competition (2023) and First prize at the Lyon International Chamber Music Competition (2024).

At the 2024 Premio Paolo-Borciani Competition in Reggio Emilia, the quartet reached the third round but was unable to continue performing due to a medical emergency.

Nevertheless, the jury of the Premio Paolo-Borciani Competition awarded the quartet a special prize for 'the unique voice it showed during the first three rounds of the 2024 Premio Paolo-Borciani'. In addition, the Fondazione | Teatri and ProQuartet European Chamber Music Centre announced their support for the Arete Quartet at this complex moment.