►  František SOUČEK - 1^st violin                ►  Petr STŘÍŽEK - 2^nd violin

►  Petr HOLMAN – viola                            ►  Vladimír FORTIN – violoncello

Since its founding in 1994, the ZEMLINSKY QUARTET has become a much lauded example of the Czech string quartet tradition. Most recently, they have been the recipient of the Vienna Friends of Music’s Alexander Zemlinsky Advancement Award, marking only the fourth time the prize has been awarded by the board that includes Christoph von Dohnányi and James Levine.

The quartet has just won the 1st Grand Prize in the Bordeaux International String Quartet Competition (2010), and also enjoyed a string of top prizes in the Banff International String Quartet Competition (2007), Prague Spring International Music Competition (2005) and London International String Quartet Competition (2006), where it was also awarded the Audience Prize. Other notable prizes include Beethoven International Competition (1999), New Talent Bratislava (2003), Martinů Foundation String Quartet Competition (2004), and the Prize of Czech Chamber Music Society (2005).

The Zemlinsky Quartet performs regularly in the Czech Republic and abroad (Germany, Switzerland, Austria, France, Monaco, Luxembourg, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Great Britain, Hungary, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Canada, USA, Brazil, Japan, South Korea). Recent major appearances of the Zemlinsky Quartet include Prague Spring Festival (2005 and 2009), Place des Arts (Montreal, 2009), Library of Congress (2009), Cité de la Musique (Paris, 2010), Seoul Arts Center (2010) and their long-awaited New York debut on Schneider/New School Concerts (2009).

The repertoire of the ensemble is far ranging containing more than 180 works by many leading composers, including contemporary music. The group has made many recordings for Czech Radio. The members of the ensemble also perform as soloists and are prizeholders of several individual competitions (Concertino Praga, Spohr International Competition Weimar, Tribune of Young Artists UNESCO, Rotary Music Competition Nürnberg, Beethoven International Competition, Kocian International Competition).

Since early 2007, the Zemlinsky Quartet has recorded exclusively for the French record label Praga Digitals. Their very first 4-CD set recording for Praga Digitals (early works for string quartet by Antonín Dvořák) received the coveted “Diapason d´Or“ prize in March 2007. Recently, in cooperation with Kocian Quartet, the quartet has recorded the complete works of Czech composer Viktor Kalabis (1923-2006, arguably the most influential Czech composer of the latter 20th Century). Other Praga Digitals releases include two quartets by Alexander Zemlinsky (2006), a 4-CD set of early quartets by Schubert (2008), a disc of Mendelssohn quartets (2010), and two CDs in cooperation with Pražák Quartet containing Mendelssohn‘s Viola Quintet Op. 18 and Martinů Quartet No. 1. The first CD of the quartet (2003) contains works by famous Czech composers Dvořák, Janáček, Suk and Richter. Their second CD, the complete quartets by Josef Suk (2004), resulted in their performance at the 2005 Prague Spring Festival. The recordings of the Zemlinsky Quartet have received universal critical acclaim (The Strad, Diapason, Fanfare, Gramophone…).

During its early years while studying in the Prague Conservatory and the Academy of Performing Arts Prague, the ensemble was coached by members of renowned Czech string quartets including the Talich, Prague, Kocian and Pražák Quartet. The ensemble also took part in several master classes (ProQuartet, France; Sommerakademie Reichenau, Austria – 1st prize for the best interpretation of a work by Janáček). The recent tutor of the quartet has been Josef Klusoň, the violist of the Pražák Quartet. During 2005-08, the quartet studied with Walter Levin, the first violinist of LaSalle Quartet.

Currently the Zemlinsky Quartet teaches as assistant quartet-in-residence at Musikakademie Basel (Switzerland). During its tours the quartet is often invited to give numerous master classes to students of any age, and it also performs in school concerts. František Souček also teaches both solo violin and chamber music in the Prague Conservatory since 2009.

Zemlinsky Quartet is named after the Austrian composer, conductor and teacher Alexander Zemlinsky (1871-1942), whose enormous contribution to Czech, German and Jewish culture during his 16-year stay in Prague was underestimated for decades. His four string quartets (the second one being dedicated to his student and brother-in-law Arnold Schönberg) belong to the basic repertoire of the ensemble. Since 2005, the quartet has maintained a special relationship with the Alexander Zemlinsky Foundation, Vienna.