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Our 2008--2009
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Cuarteto Casals
"I loved the Casals Quartet`s Brahms C minor, full of spanish colour but not at all the usual interpretation, its tough Stravinsky and subtle Webern. Here is a quartet for the new millenium if ever I heard one." Tully Potter in The Strad magazine Since its founding at the Escuela Reina Sofia in Madrid under Professor Antonello Farulli in 1997, the Cuarteto Casals has quickly become recognized as one of Europe's most distinguished young string quartets. This Spanish quartet has garnered extensive critical acclaim and has won top prizes at many international competitions, including First Prize at the 2000 London International String Quartet Competition and First Prize at the Johannes Brahms International String Quartet Competition in Hamburg (2002). In September 2000, the ensemble was honored with the Catalonian Music Critics Prize. Upcoming and recent activities include performances at the Wigmore Hall in London, Concertgebouw (Amsterdam), Lincoln Center (New York), Beethovenhaus (Bonn), Philharmonie (Berlin), Library of Congress (Washington), Konzerthaus (Wien), Weill Reciatal Hall (New York), Philharmonie (Cologne) and tours throughout Europe, the United States, South America and Japan as well as appearances at the Salzburger Festspiele and Luzern, Santa Fe, Bantry, City of London, Schleswig-Holstein, Kuhmo, Liceo de Cámara and Citta di Castello festivals. In September 2005, the Cuarteto Casals released a three disc set of the complete early quartets and divertimenti of W.A. Mozart, its third commerical recording with Harmonia Mundi, following the critical success of its previous album, which paired the lone quartet of Claude Debussy with the Second Quartet of Alexander Zemlinsky. The ensemble was widely praised for its debut recording of the three quartets of J.C. Arriaga, a cycle previously traversed by the foursome at the Royal Palace in Madrid, performing on the royal family's matched set of Stradivarius instruments. Plans for future recordings include the quartet of Maurice Ravel, works by 20th Century Spanish composers Joaquín Turina and Eduard Toldrà as well as lesser known quartets and quintets from Luigi Boccherini. Addititionally, the quartet has worked with important composers in Europe today, premiering works by David del Puerto and Jesús Rueda of Spain, collaborating with James MacMillan of the United Kingdom and György Kurtág of Hungary, and at the composer's request, recording Christian Lauba's quartet 'Morphing'. Cuarteto Casals has been heard frequently on the radio and in live concert broadcasts from the Spanish National Radio, Radio France, Deutschland Radio, WDR, NDR, SWR, RAI, NPR and the BBC and seen on television throughout Spain and Germany. The Cuarteto Casals is currently quartet in residence at leading Spanish conservatories in Barcelona and Zaragoza, and has been profoundly influenced by intensive studies with Professors Walter Levin and Rainer Schmidt, as well as by graduate work in Cologne under the Alban Berg Quartet and Harald Schoneweg. Vera MARTINEZ MEHNER,Violin Vera Martinez-Mehner was born in 1978 in Madrid , five years old she began violin lessons . At the Escuela Superior de Musica in Madrid she studied primarily with Sergei Fatkouline and Zakhar Bron, with whom she continued to work in Cologne at the Hochschule für Musik. Vera has won awards including First Prize and Special Prize for the Best Interpretation of a Classical Work at the international violin competition Kloster Schöntal in 1995 and Second Prize at the International Henry Wieniawsky Competition in Poland in 1997. As soloist Vera has performed with the Orquesta sinfónica de Santo Domingo, Orquesta de la Escuela Reina Sofía and the Orquesta sinfónica de Palma de Mallorca throughout Europe and Central America and has worked with such important conductors as Zubin Mehta, Yehudi Menuhin, James Judd and Victor Pablo. She has also played chamber music with such artists as Gerard Caussé, Marta Gulyàs and Harald Schoneweg and in the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen. Abel TOMAS REALP,Violin Violinist Abel Tomàs was born in Barcelona in 1980 and began to play the violin seven years old, studying later with Zakhar Bron and Sergei Fatkouline at the Escuela Superior de Música in Madrid from 1995 until 1998. He completed his studies at the Hochschule für Musik in Cologne with Viktor Tretjakov. In 1993, Abel won First Prize at the Concurso internacional de niños y jovenes solistas instrumentistas in Córdoba, Argentina, and again in 1994 at the national competition Ciutat de Manresa. He has appeared as soloist with numerous orchestras including the Orquestra del Empordà, Orquesta de cámara de la Escuela Reina Sofía and the Orquestra simfònica de Barcelona i nacional de Catalunya and worked with such renowned conductors as James Judd and Zubin Mehta. Abel has given numerous recitals in important concert halls throughout Spain including Fundación Juan March, Circulo de Belles Artes and the Real Academia de Belles Artes de San Fernando, from which his recital was broadcast live over Spanish national radio. He has collaborated in chamber music projects with such artists as Gerard Caussé, Harald Schoneweg and Marta Gulyàs. Jonathan BROWN, Viola Jonathan Brown was born in 1974 in Chicago and began to study the violin at age four and took up the viola in chamber music groups at age twelve. He studied at the Eastman School of Music with Heidi Castleman and Martha Strongin Katz, with whom he also studied at Rice University. Jonathan went on to receive his Master´s Degree from the Juilliard School where he studied with Karen Tuttle. In Spring of 2000 he won a Beebe Grant for Musicians which enabled him to study at the Mozarteum in Salzburg with Thomas Riebl and Veronika Hagen for whom he also served as Teaching Assistant. He has studied chamber music with members of the Hagen, Cleveland, Juilliard, Mendelssohn and Takacs Quartets and participated in courses with Ferenc Rados, Andràs Schiff, Sylvia Rosenberg, Victoria Chiang and Diemut Poppen. Jonathan has been heard in recital and chamber music performances throughout Europe and North America and performed with such artists as Anthony Marwood, Charlie Neidich and Ian Swenson. He has been invited to festivals including Ravinia, Taos, Aspen and to Open Chamber Music at the International Musicians Seminar in England. He has played regularly in the Camerata Salzburg and served as Principal Violist of the Juilliard Symphony and New Juilliard Ensemble. Arnau TOMAS REALP,Cello Cellist Arnau Tomas was born in 1973 in Barcelona where he began to study the piano at age six and cello at age twelve. For four years he attended the Hogeschool voor de Kunsten in Utrecht before moving on to the Escuela Superior de Musica Reina Sofía in Madrid, where he studied with Ivan Monighetti, with whom he also worked at the Musikakademie der Stadt Basel. He later studied with Franz Helmerson at the Hochschule für Musik in Cologne. Arnau has won First Prize at competitions including Germans Claret in 1990, Ciutat de Manresa and Permanente de Juventudes Musicales de España in 1996 and Second Prize at the international competition Jonge Talenten in Holland in 1991. One year later he was invited by the Concergebauw in Amsterdam to participate in a Masterclass with YoYo Ma which was sunsequently broadcast on television throughout Holland. Arnau has been invited to serve as principal cellist in numerous orchestras including the Orquesta de Radiotelevisión Española, Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia and the Conjunto Ibérico de Violonchelos and has appeared with the European Community Chamber Orchestra and the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen. As soloist, Arnau has appeared with such orchestras as Orquestra Filarmonia de Cambra de Barcelona, Orquesta de la Radio Televisión Española, Orquestra simfònica de Barcelona i nacional de Catalunya, and the London School Symphony Orchestra and has recorded a CD of solo cello works of Cassadó, Bach and Kodàly. He´s the founder member of the Cuarteto Casals. Arnau has taught string quartets at Conservatorio Superior de Música de Salamanca. |
