Nicholas Yonge Society

International Chamber Music in Lewes

20 October 2023

Leonkoro String Quartet
(Purchase tickets here)
Jonathan Schwarz Violin
Amelie Wallner Violin
Mayu Konoe   Viola
Lukas Schwarz  Cello
Programme
Schubert String Quartet No. 9 in G minor, D173
Janáček String Quartet No. 1  'The Kreutzer Sonata'
Brahms String Quartet No. 1 in C minor, Op. 51 No. 1

The Leonkoro Quartet comes to Lewes as part of their winner's tour from the April 2022 Wigmore Hall International String Quartet Competition at which they also won no less than 9 of the 12 special prizes. The previous month they had won the prestigious Jürgen Ponto Foundation Music Prize and in May the Quatuor à Bordeaux competition together with its Audience Prize and its Young Audience Prize. Also in May 2022 the quartet was appointed to the prestigious BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists programme for 2022–2024. Not a bad three months!

The quartet was founded in Berlin in 2019. Appropriately for a quartet with two brothers, its name Leonkoro, which means ‘Lionheart’ in Esperanto, alludes to Astrid Lindgren’s children’s book about two brothers; the book juxtaposes the grave reality of death with a heartfelt consolation, a theme which frequently runs through the quartet’s music.

The Leonkoro Quartet ... has an enormous stage presence, glows for the music, takes full risks and amazes with its empathy for the respective sound of the pieces. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

Visit The Leonkoro Quartet's website.