1997-2024, 27 years of chamber music...

    

    The Graffe Quartet is one of the leading Czech ensembles of the middle generation, following in the footsteps of the rich interpretive tradition established by the Czech quartet school. Since its foundation in 1997, the group has been awarded a number of laureate titles at international competitions (including the 1999 Beethoven's Hradec International Music Competition, the ACT 2003 International Chamber Music Competition - London, Great Britain, and the "Verfemte Musik" International Competition 2005 - Schwerin, Germany) and has been a two-time winner (in 2001 and 2003) of the Leoš Janáček Foundation Award for the interpretation of the Leoš Janáček Quartets. In 2005, the quartet was awarded a special prize of the French association “Forum Voix Etouffés” and in 2008 the prestigious Prize of the Czech Chamber Music Society of the Czech Philharmonic, thereby joining the leading Czech chamber ensembles in winning this prize.

     Members of the Janáček Quartet (especially Prof. Adolf Sýkora) actively contributed to the Graffe Quartet’s artistic development, while Prof. Jerry Horner (a member of the legendary US-based Fine Arts Quartet) had a fundamental influence on the performing style of the ensemble, having collaborated closely from 2006 to 2017. Furthermore, the quartet repeatedly participated in numerous international chamber music workshops, where it had the opportunity to study under the guidance of leading artists, including Günter Pichler (Alban Berg Quartet, Vienna), Norbert Brainin and Siegmund Nissel (Amadeus Quartet, London), László Mezö (Bartók Quartet, Budapest), Milan Škampa (Smetana Quartet, Prague) and others.

    The Graffe Quartet has performed on hundreds of concert stages on three continents as part of major concert series, including the Dvořák Hall at Prague's Rudolfinum, the Czech Chamber Music Society; Besední dům (Our House) in Brno, the Friends of Music Society; the Chicago Chamber Music Society, USA; the Spivey Hall, Atlanta, USA; and the Leamington Music, Great Britain. Recently, the ensemble has also performed at many major music festivals, such as the Prague Spring, Varna Summer International Music Festival, Bratislava Music Festival, Moravian Autumn, Janáček Brno, Concentus Moravie, and the Leoš Janáček International Music Festival in Ostrava. The group’s recordings were done by radio and television stations both in Europe and overseas (Czech, Slovak and Croatian radio, BBC, American Public Media, Czech Television, Tv NOE, etc.). The Graffe Quartet also released CD records, which repeatedly won the "Recording of the Month" title on MusicWeb International, a prestigious British music portal.

    During its 25 years of existence, the Graffe Quartet’s repertoire has included over 150 pieces of chamber literature, and the group has collaborated with numerous accomplished artists as part of larger chamber ensembles. These include: Michio Otaki-piano (USA), Grigorios Zamparas-piano (USA), Jitka Čechová-piano, Igor Ardašev-piano, Jan Jiraský-piano, Bohuslav Matoušek-viola, Josef Špaček-violin, viola, Kristina Fialová-viola, Jiří Bárta-cello, Petr Nouzovský-cello, James Campbell-clarinet (Canada), Irvin Venyš-clarinet, Vlastimil Mareš-clarinet and the Pražák Quartet. The quartet also performs as part of the VOX IMAGINIS art cycle residency, organized in cooperation with the Moravian Gallery in Brno. The quartet has collaborated with a number of leading Czech actors participating in these musical-theatrical performances, including: Jitka Molavcová, Maria Durnová, Lubomíra Sonková, Alfred Strejček, Jan Kačer, Josef Somr, Vladimír Krátký, František Derfler, Saša Rašilov, Michal Bumbálek, and Otakar Brousek Jr.

    The Graffe Quartet performed a number of world premieres of pieces by major composers, with many of the compositions dedicated to the ensemble. Its premiere performances included compositions by Bohuslav Martinů, André Previn, Werner Schulz, Jaroslav Krček,Jiří Pavlica, Milan Slimáček, and Miloš Štědroň.

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