Pavel Haas Quartet

Pavel Haas QUARTET
Veronika Jaruskova - Violin Eva Karova - Violin
Pavel Nikl - Viola Peter Jarusek - Violoncello
Since winning the Paolo Borciani competition in Italy in Spring 2005, the Pavel Haas Quartet has performed at the world's most prestigious concert halls, receiving great acclaim from audiences and critics alike.
In 2009/10 the Quartet will debut at the Lucerne Festival, the Schubertiade, the Frick Collection in New York, the BBC Proms and the Berlin Konzerthaus as well as make return visits to Vienna Konzerthaus, Barcelona Palau de la Música, Wigmore Hall and the Concertgebouw Amsterdam. They will also undertake major tours of the USA and Australia. In autumn 2009 the Quartet will release its third disc on the Supraphon label with recordings of Prokofiev's String Quartets Nos.1 and 2.
Recent highlights for the Quartet include performances at Carnegie Hall, the Edinburgh International Festival, the Mariinsky Concert Hall in St. Petersburg and performances at the Louvre, Paris. The Quartet recently toured to Japan, recording a concert of Janáček and Haas for NHK television. In 2007, the Cologne Philharmonic nominated the Quartet as Echo Rising Stars, resulting in a tour to major concert halls Worldwide.
The Quartet took part in the BBC New Generation Artists scheme from 2007-2009, participating in BBC studio recordings and high profile Uk engagements. Their recording of Beethoven string quartets was the cover CD for the 2009 BBC Music Magazine's Awards issue.
The Pavel Haas Quartet has released two discs on the Supraphon label. The first recording of Janáček Quartet No.2 'Intimate Letters' and Haas Quartet No.2 'From the Monkey Mountains' was voted one of the CDs of 2006 by The Daily Telegraph, CD of the Week by BBC Radio 3 and Chamber Choice by BBC Music Magazine. The Quartet's second disc was released in autumn 2007 and saw them complete their recordings of the string quartet works by Haas and Janacek, featuring Janacek's Quartet No.1 'Kreutzer Sonata' and Haas' Quartets Nos.1 and 3. Gramophone commented "To describe a CD as musically important is to court a certain level of controversy but I'll stick my neck out and claim extreme importance for this particular release." Based in Prague, the Quartet has studied with some of the masters of the quartet world including members of Quartetto Italiano, Quatuor Mosaiques and the Borodin and Amadeus Quartets. It worked particularly closely with Milan Skampa (Smetana Quartet) in Prague and Walter Levin (LaSalle Quartet) in Basel.
The Quartet takes its name from the Czech composer Pavel Haas (1899-1944) who was imprisoned at Theresienstadt in 1941 and tragically died at Auschwitz three years later. His legacy includes three wonderful string quartets. As well as Haas, the Quartet is passionately committed to the Czech repertoire while their performances of Beethoven, Schubert, Haydn, Mozart, Prokofiev, Shostakovich and Ravel have also received extraordinary acclaim.