Banff International String Quartet Competition (BISQC)

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Asasello Quartet

Germany

Asasello Quartet

Rostislav Kojevnikov, violin
Barbara Kuster, violin
Justyna Śliwa, viola
Wolfgang Zamastil, cello

The Asasello Quartet was founded in 2000 in Basel, where its members were studying at the time. Having concluded their studies in Basel with a major in chamber music, the quartet relocated to Cologne in August 2003 and continued to study with the Alban Berg Quartet. After the diploma for chamber music and contemporary music in Cologne, the musicians continued their musical education with Christophe Desjardins in Paris and Chaim Taub in Tel Aviv.

Winning the first prize of the Migros Kulturporzent competition 2003 in Zurich, the Asasello Quartet has since performed in Hungary, Russia, the Netherlands, and England. Their appearance at the 2007 MusikTriennale festival in Cologne was followed by their debut in London’s Wigmore Hall, and in 2009 they were among the winners of the first International Chamber Music Competition in Hamburg, ICMC.

Invited by the Heidelberger Frühling music festival to perform in their 2010 season, the quartet will also perform at the Gorczycki festival in Poland this year and is undertaking a major project that will take them on a three weeks tour through Siberia.

The Asasello Quartet also continues artistic directorship of the Swiss Musiktage Fafleralp in 2010, a position they took over in 2008.

With a goal to dispel the reservations many concert goers have towards contemporary music, the quartet has started its own series of concerts in Cologne where just two pieces are performed — a confrontation of contemporary and classical romantic repertoire. The idea has attracted a younger public and received much support.

Upon conclusion of their studies in Cologne in 2006, the Asasello Quartet went on to complete subsequent postgraduate studies of contemporary classical music in 2007. Focusing on their love for contemporary music, they have worked with many composers including Helmut Lachenmann, Wolfgang Rihm, Thomas Adès, Christoph Staude, Matthias Pintscher, Sergej Newski, Aleksandra Gryka, Kaija Saariaho, Toshio Hosakawa, and Elzbieta Sikora.

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2010 BISQC Quartets