Czech Chamber Music Society • Zemlinsky Quartet

Founded in 1994, the Zemlinsky Quartet have pursued the illustrious Czech quartet tradition. They won the international string quartet competition in Bordeaux (2010), and became laureates at competitions in Banff, Canada, and London, where they also received the audience prize. Furthermore, the ensemble came first at Beethoven Hradec, New Talent Bratislava and the Bohuslav Martinů Foundation Competition. They received the Czech Chamber Music Society Award (2005) and the Alexander Zemlinsky Foundation Prize in Vienna (2009). In the 2016/17 season, the Zemlinsky Quartet were the Czech Chamber Music Society’s ensemble-in-residence. 

They have toured four continents, performing at venues of such renown as Wigmore Hall in London, Cité de la Musique in Paris, Library of Congress in Washington, DC, and the Seoul Arts Center. The ensemble’s repertoire encompasses over 350 works by Czech and other composers, including new contemporary pieces. In the wake of their first two CDs featuring Czech music, the Zemlinsky Quartet signed an exclusive contract with the French label Praga Digitals, for which they have to date recorded 19 albums, among them the complete Antonín Dvořák and Alexander Zemlinsky string quartets. Their 4-CD set comprising early Dvořák quartets received the prestigious Diapason d’Or. They have also made numerous recordings for Czech Radio (including all F. X. Richter’s quartets). 

During the time of their studies at the Prague Conservatory and the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, they were led by members of distinguished Czech ensembles (Prague, Talich, Kocian and Pražák Quartets). Later on, the ensemble studied with the legendary teacher Walter Levin, the founder, first violinist and guiding spirit of the LaSalle Quartet. From 2006 to 2011 the Zemlinsky Quartet members worked as tutors at the Musikakademie Basel, while between 2005 and 2010 they organised and taught at the International Music Academy in Plzeň. Within their tours, they have led masterclasses for musicians of all age categories. František Souček and Petr Holman also teach at the Prague Conservatory. 

The quartet bears the name of the Austrian composer, conductor and educator Alexander Zemlinsky (1871–1942), who during his 16-year tenure as music director at the Neues deutsches Theater significantly contributed to the development of Czech, German and Jewish culture in Prague. His four string quartets (with the second dedicated to Arnold Schönberg, his pupil and, later on, brother-in-law) are among the staples of the ensemble’s repertoire. Since 2005, the quartet have closely collaborated with the Alexander Zemlinsky Foundation in Vienna.