Quatuor Ébène bio

Pierre Colombet, Violin | Gabriel Le Magadure, Violin
Marie Chilemme, Viola | Raphaël Merlin, Cello

With its recording of Beethoven’s 16 string quartets in its Beethoven Around the World project in the 2019–2020 season, Quatour Ébène celebrated its 20th stage anniversary, which was crowned with performances of the complete string-quartet cycle in major European venues, including the Philharmonie de Paris and the Alte Oper Frankfurt.

After studies with the Quatuor Ysaÿe, Gábor Takács-Nagy, Eberhard Feltz, and György Kurtág, Quatuor Ébène had an unprecedented victory at the 2004 ARD International Music Competition. This marked the beginning of its rise, which has culminated in numerous prizes and awards, including the 2007 Borletti-Buitoni Trust, and—as the first ensemble ever—the 2019 Frankfurt Music Prize.

Quatuor Ébène’s albums-—with recordings of Bartók, Beethoven, Debussy, Haydn, Fauré, Felix Mendelssohn, and Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel—have received numerous awards from Gramophone, BBC Music, and MIDEM Classical. In 2015 and 2016, the musicians dedicated themselves to the theme “Lied.” They participated in the album Green: Mélodies françaises by Philippe Jaroussky, and released a Schubert album with Matthias Goerne (arrangements for string quartet, baritone, and bass by Raphaël Merlin) and the Schubert String Quintet with Gautier Capuçon.

The musicians of Quatuor Ébène have been successful in reaching a wide audience of young listeners and in conveying their talent in regular master classes at the Paris Conservatoire. In January 2021, Quatuor Ébène was commissioned by the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München to establish a string quartet class as part of the newly founded Quatuor Ébène Academy.

After close to 21 years of constant touring, the quartet took a sabbatical and returned to the stage in October 2021 with concerts scheduled at the philharmonic halls of Luxembourg, Paris, Berlin, and Cologne, as well as Carnegie Hall and the Vienna Konzerthaus. With it colleagues of the Belcea Quartet, the quartet will form an octet that will tour with repertoire by Felix Mendelssohn and Enescu.