Saxophon Quartett Arcis
The Arcis Saxophon Quartett was founded in 2009 at the University of Music and Performing Arts Munich, and studied chamber music under the Artemis Quartet at the Berlin University of the Arts, with additional instruction from Koryun Asatryan and Prof. Friedemann Berger in Munich. The quartet has been a member of the European Chamber Music Academy (ECMA, Prof. Hatto Beyerle, Prof. Johannes Meissl e.a.) since 2014.
These four young musicians from Munich, possessed of a charismatic and authentic stage presence, set audiences aflame with their spark-throwing enthusiasm and burning passion for this rare form of chamber music.
In their highly professional, exact interpretations, they explore the relationship between individual expressivity and the interwoven quality that makes chamber music what it is. And in doing so, they captivate listeners with their joy of playing and expressive depth. This eagerness to communicate, along with their acute perception of one another, makes possible virtually “una voce” articulation. The resulting effect is far-reaching both sonically and musically, with the saxophone’s entire spectrum of colour coming brilliantly to light.
March of 2013 saw the release of their first compact disc, “Arcis Saxophon Quartett spielt Enjott Schneider”, on Ambient Audio. In April 2017 their compact disc Rasch was released on Genuin.
The ensemble’s activities in 2013 were marked by important international accomplishments: they won first prizes at the Musikwettbewerb des Kulturkreises Gasteig e.V. (Munich; in addition to the Audience Prize), at the International Music Competition Concorso Argento (Italy), and at the First Classical Music International Internet-Festival “Chance Music” (Russia). They also received a third prize at the 13th Chieri International Competition (Italy), as well as a second prize at the Chamber Music Competition of the Alice Samter Foundation Berlin in 2014. In 2015 they won a first prize at the 4th international Contest – Festival of Chamber Ensemble Performance named after T.A. Gaidamovich in Magnitogorsk (Russia) and in 2016 a first prize at the 1st Rising Stars Grand Prix 2016 – International Music Competition Berlin.
Furthermore, the ensemble was honored with the Bayerische Kunstförderpreis 2016 and awarded with the Scholarship of the Theodor-Rogler-Foundation, a Scholarship of Music by the City of Munich and a Scholarship of the Erika and Georg Dietrich Foundation.
They are supported by a scholarship of Yehudi Menuhin Live Music Now and the PE-Förderungen for Students of Music.
In addition to their concert activities in Germany and Europe (Philharmonie Munich, Philharmonie Berlin, Wigmore Hall London etc.), the quartet went on concert tours through China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Algeria, Morocco, Ecuador and the USA.
Claus Hierluksch, soprano saxophone - Ricarda Fuss, alto saxophone - Edoardo Zotti, tenor saxophone - Jure Knez, baritone saxophone
Photo credits: Harald Hoffmann - Jure Knez
