
Guests at the Heidelberger Frühling Streichquartettfest 2025 were the young new music experts of the Fabrik Quartet, the Quartett HANA from the school of Quatuor Ébène, the Swedish-Norwegian quartet Opus13, the legendary Kuss Quartett from Berlin and the French Quatuor Diotima, also from the top league of quartet formations.
In addition, workshops were held with Oliver Wille, member of the Kuss Quartett and professor of string chamber music at the Hanover University of Applied Sciences and Arts, and with Lucas Fels, cellist of the world-famous Arditti Quartet and an accomplished Lachenmann expert. One of the highlights of Streichquartettfest 2025 was Oliver Wille's interview with composer Helmut Lachenmann, to whom the festival edition was dedicated.
Federico Ceppetelli violin
Veronika Paleeva violin
Jacobo Díaz Robledillo Viola
Elena Cappelletti Violoncello
The Fabrik Quartet was founded in 2022 with the vision of dedicating itself to the music of our time and its expressive potential within the possibilities of a string quartet. Iannis Xenakis' work "Tetras" was the starting point and key work in their development. The Fabrik Quartet won first prizes at the International Chamber Music Competition "A. Rubinstein" in Düsseldorf, at the International Competition for Contemporary Music Re_Crea in Castelló, Spain, and at the Polytechnic Competition at the Frankfurt University of Music. As working with living composers continues to be a main interest of the Fabrik Quartet, they have been taught by Rebecca Saunders, Alberto Posadas, Jose Manuel López and Ulrich Kreppein. As part of their training as a quartet, they attended master classes with Irvine Arditti and members of the Ensemble Modern and the Ensemble Intercontemporain. Since 2022, the Fabrik Quartet has been studying at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Frankfurt with Prof. Lucas Fels (Arditti Quartet) and Prof. Tim Vogler (Vogler Quartet).

Gyurim Kwak violin
Fuga Miwatashi violin
Simon Rosier Viola
Tzu-Shao Chao Violoncello
The Quartett HANA was founded in April 2019 at the University of Music and Performing Arts Munich. The name HANA, which means "flower" in Japanese and "one" in Korean, refers to the claim of their game to have "one same spirit". In its current line-up, the quartet studies with Prof. Raphaël Merlin and the Quatuor Ébène. The musicians received musical advice and worked regularly with Prof. Eberhard Feltz and Prof. Dirk Mommertz (Fauré Quartet). They have taken part in master classes with Prof. Oliver Wille (Kuss Quartett), Prof. Heime Müller (Artemis Quartet), Prof. Gerhard Schulz (Alban Berg Quartet) and Quatuor Voce. In 2022, the quartet received a special prize "Förderpreis Jeunesses Musicales Deutschland" at the ARD music competition. In 2023, they received the Walbusch Prize from Jeunesses Musicales Deutschland. They were also awarded 2nd prize at the Concours de Genève. The two violinists Gyurim Kwak and Fuga Miwatashi alternate in the role of the primaria.

Sonoko Miriam Welde Violin
Edvard Erdal Violin
Edgar Francis Viola i.V. for Albin Uusijärvi
Daniel Thorell Violoncello
The Swedish-Norwegian string quartet Opus13, named after Mendelssohn's String Quartet in A minor op. 13, is one of the most promising, up-and-coming young ensembles in Europe. The quartet was founded in 2014 and is 2nd prize winner of the prestigious Banff International String Quartet Competition 2022. In 2023, they received the Norwegian Equinor Classical Music Award, joining a list of previous winners such as Leif Ove Andsnes, Lise Davidsen and Vilde Frang. Opus13 has worked with top international musicians such as Janine Jansen, Olli Mustonen, Julian Bliss, Alisa Weilerstein, Tabea Zimmermann, Jonathan Biss and Konstantin Heidrich. They are coached by Berit Cardas and Bjørg Lewis of the Vertavo Quartet and have participated in masterclasses with many of the world's leading chamber musicians, including members of the Belcea Quartet, Quatuor Ébène, Artemis Quartet, Oslo String Quartet and Quatuor Mosaïques. The Opus13 are the founders and artistic directors of the chamber music festival Vinterspill på Lillehammer.
Violist Albin Uusijärvi is unable to perform due to injury and will be replaced by Edgar Francis at Streichquartettfest.

Jana Kuss Violin
Oliver Wille Violin
William Coleman Viola
Mikayel Hakhnazaryan Violoncello
For many years, Kuss Quartett has been setting new standards with its sophisticated conceptual program design. The aim and ideal is to offer both traditional audiences and new listeners unique experiences. Primary violinist Jana Kuss and second violinist Oliver Wille have been playing side by side for over 30 years - together with their long-standing colleagues, they search with curiosity for confirmation of the eternal "must it be" of string quartet playing. Over the past ten years, Kuss Quartett has commissioned new works, expanding its repertoire for string quartet with compositions by Enno Poppe, Aribert Reimann, Manfred Trojahn, Johannes Fischer and Mark Andre. In 2019, the ensemble was the first string quartet from Germany to receive the legendary "Paganini Quartet" by Stradivari on loan from the Nippon Music Foundation. The quartet played Beethoven's complete string quartet cycle on these instruments at the invitation of Suntory Hall Tokyo; the live recording made there was released in 2020. Today, the Kuss Quartett inspires the next generation at numerous master classes, and William Coleman (in Salzburg) and Oliver Wille (in Hanover and Birmingham) are also professors at European universities. Mikayel Hakhnazaryan teaches chamber music at the Hochschule in Karlsruhe, Jana Kuss at the Accademia Perosi in Biella (Italy).

YunPeng Zhao Violin
Léo Marillier violin
Franck Chevalier Viola
Alexis Descharmes Violoncello
Founded in Paris in 1996, Quatuor Diotima has developed into one of the world's most sought-after ensembles. The name reflects the musical double identity of the quartet: the word "Diotima" is borrowed from German Romanticism. In his novel "Hyperion", Friedrich Hölderlin gave the love of his life the name "Diotima" - and is at the same time a reference to music from our time, think of Luigi Nono's work "Fragment-Silence, to Diotima". As a valued partner of many great composers of the late 20th century, such as Pierre Boulez and Helmut Lachenmann, the Quatuor Diotima regularly commissions compositions from important composers of our time. In its programmes, it offers a new perspective on works by the great classics by fusing classical and contemporary pieces. The extensive discography of Quatuor Diotima includes the recording of all string quartets by Béla Bartók (Naïve, 2019). The Quatuor Diotima is very active in the education of young artists and was recently Associate Artist at the Aix-en-Provence Festival Academy, Artist in Residence at the University of Chicago and was invited to master classes at the University of California in Los Angeles or the Casa del Quartetto in Reggio Emilia. In 2018, the ensemble received the European Cultural Heritage Award from the French Ministry of Culture.

Workshoplead
Lucas Fels is one of the most active and renowned cellists in the field of contemporary music. He studied with Christoph Henkel in Freiburg, with Anner Bijlsma in Amsterdam and with Amadeo Baldovino in Fiesole. As a founding member of ensemble recherche, he has helped shape around 400 world premieres of contemporary chamber and ensemble music and has worked closely with Helmut Lachenmann, Wolfgang Rihm and Beat Furrer. He has been a member of the Arditti Quartet since 2006. He has been teaching at the Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts since 2013 as Professor of "Interpretative Practice and Education of New Music".

Violinist Oliver Wille is a founding member of the Kuss Quartett and has been a professor of chamber music at the Hanover University of Music since 2011. He has been the director of the Hitzacker Summer Music Days since 2016. The Presidium of the German Music Council has also appointed him Chairman of the Advisory Board and the overall jury of the German Music Competition. Together with Antje Weithaas, Wille has taken over the artistic direction of the International Joseph Joachim Violin Competition Hanover from 2021. Oliver Wille is a sought-after music mediator, regularly moderates discussion concerts and leads workshops - he has been a regular guest at the Heidelberger Frühling Streichquartettfest since 2008.
