READ MORE

Walter Gropius was considered a revolutionary visionary who, in the 1920’s, founded the Bauhaus style. Clarity and boldness characterized his works. Berlin and Weimar were the center of his work as is true for the quartet. Following the example of Gropius, and influenced by personal interactions with Yehudi Menuhin and Mstislav Rostropovich, the Gropius Quartet has as its goal to uncover the structure of a work, and make it alive through passionate interpretation.

Having already known each other since their student days at the International Menuhin Music Academy Gstaad and the Julliard School New York, the Gropius Quartet is more than the sum of its parts. Friedemann Eichhorn and Indira Koch, violins; Alexia Eichhorn, viola; and Wolfgang Emmanuel Schmidt, violoncello, are all established soloists and chamber musicians. The constellation of its intuitive and established ensemble work contributes precisely to the quartet’s electric dynamics.

Since its debut at the Nationaltheater Weimar in 2018, the Gropius Quartet has presented exciting programs in which unusual and unknown works are heard next to the classical repertoire. Thus the quartet has also premiered numerous works, including those written for it by George Alexander Albrecht in a world premiere at the Nationaltheater Weimar in 2019 and Enjott Schneider’s Quartet with Beatbox at the Konzerthaus Berlin in 2022. 

In addition, the quartet has its own festival in Bad Honnef/Bonn where it performed in 2021 the world premieres of two works by Sir Karl Jenkins, the quartet version of Chatterbox and the quintet version of Benedictus with renowned cellist Misha Maisky, 

Upcoming are concerts in Porto, Lissabon and Weimar in June, and the enemble’s debut at the Hamburg Elbphilharmonie in July 2022. 

In addition the quartet appeared on German radio with works by Fazil Say and George Alexander Albrecht.

The quartet recorded Mendelssohn and Dvořák in the fall of 2022. 

In 2020, the quartet lived in New York. From this sabbatical the quartet brought home, among others, an American-inspired program with works of Erich Korngold , John Adams and Antonin Dvořák. 

Friedemann Eichhorn, violin, has recorded over thirty CDs as a soloist and chamber musician, including the complete violin works of Fazil Say, working together with the composer and conductor Christoph Eschenbach. He teaches as professor at the Hochschule für Musik Franz Liszt, and is artistic director of the renowned Kronberg Academy.

Indira Koch, violin, is the concertmistress of the Deutsche Oper Berlin as well as artistic director and concertmistress of the Kammerphilharmonie Metamorphosen Berlin. She has appeared as guest soloist with the Hamburg Symphony, the Canberra Symphony Orchestra, and the Roumanian State Philharmonic. Concerts have led her to New York’s Carnegie Hall, Tokyo’s Santory Hall, the Berlin Philharmonie and the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg.

Alexia Eichhorn, viola, has concertized as violinist and violist with orchestras in Europe and Asia and at renowned festivals. As concertmistress for many years of the Hofer Symphoniker, she teaches at the Hochschule für Musik Franz Liszt in Weimar. Recordings of numerous uncovered works are on various labels,

Wolfgang Emmanuel Schmidt, cello has concertized as prize winner of the Tchaikovsky Competition Moscow with musicians such as Lang Lang, Emmanuel Ax, Chrisoph Eschenbach and Gil Shaham, and was guest soloist with the Gewandhaus Orchester Leipzig and the Orchestre Philharmonique de la Suisse Romande under the direction of Marek Janowski, Rafael Frübeck and Donald Runnicles. He teaches at the Hochschule für Musik Franz Liszt Weimar and at the Kronberg Academy. Sony Classical has released many of his recordings as soloist and conductor.