15th International Mozart Competition Announces String Quartet Winners

First prize in the string quartet division, worth 20,000 Euros, went to Arete Quartet

At the 15th International Mozart Competition, hosted by the Mozarteum University in Salzburg, Austria, the Arete Quartet was awarded first prize in the string quartet category and the traditional special prize of the Mozarteum Foundation for the best interpretation of a string quartet by W. A. Mozart.

In the recent final of the competition, the Arete Quartet performed Mozart's string quartet KV 465 in C major, L. Janáček's string quartet No. 1 "Kreutzer Sonata," and "UTA-ORI weaving song for string quartet" by T. Hosokawa.

Formed in September 2019, the Arete Quartet is a former first prize winner at the 72nd Prague Spring International Music Competition. They have also received awards such as the 12th Premio Paolo Borciani International String Quartet Competition for "Best Performance for String Quartet Commissioned by Toshio Hosokawa," and a scholarship from Jeunesses Musicales Germany, and the Bohuslav Martinu Foundation Prize.

Currently, the quartet members are studying at the University of Music and Performing Arts Munich and are scholarship holders of Yehudi Menuhin Live Music Now. Recently featured on BR-Klassik, the Arete String Quartet studies with Prof. Christoph Poppen, Jaeyoung Kim of the Novus Quartet, Quatuor Ébène, and Prof. Eberhard Feltz.

The competition's second prize in the amount of 12,000 euros, as well as the 1,000 euros IGNM special prize for the best interpretation of a contemporary work for the String Quartet No. 3 "Hidden Agendas" by B. Dean went to the Affinity Quartet.

Founded in 2015 by students at the Australian National Academy of Music, the quartet's international awards include third prize at the 2022 Wigmore Hall International String Quartet Competition, the 2022 McGill International String Quartet Academy Montreal, and the Young Talents Residency at the 2020 Amsterdam String Quartet Biennale. In 2023, the Affinity Quartet will study in Madrid with Prof. Günter Pichler at the Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofía and perform at the ANAM Quartet House London, the Royal Albert Hall, and the Australian National Academy of Music.

The Eden Quartet was awarded the 3rd prize of 8,000 euros. The four young musicians are currently studying for a master's degree in Berlin and Cologne.

A further special prize, an invitation to ARCO was awarded to the Vienna-based Kandinsky Quartet.