After studying with the Ysaÿe Quartet in Paris, with Gábor Takács, Eberhard Feltz and György Kurtág, the Quatuor Ebène was winner of the ARD Competition in 2004. This marked the beginning of its ascent, culminating in numerous prizes and awards.
The Quatuor concerts are characterized by a particular impetus: the ability to combine tradition with new musical forms and to involve a large audience of young people; the Quatuor also communicates his knowledge by holding regular masterclasses at the Paris Conservatoire. In 2005 the Quatuor won the Belmont Prize of the Forberg-Schneider Foundation, which has since then collaborated regularly with the ensemble, allowing it – since 2009 – to play on priceless antique instruments, granted by private collections.
The Quatuor Ebène's records range from works by Haydn, Bartók, Debussy, Fauré, Mozart up to the Mendelssohn brothers and have received numerous awards, including a Gramophone Award, an ECHO Klassik, the BBC Music Magazine Award and the Midem Classic Award. The Quatuor recently collaborated with Philippe Jaroussky on the album “Green (mélodies françaises)” which won the BBC Music Magazine Award 2016, and has released a disc of Schubert Lieder recorded with Matthias Goerne, together with the Schubert String Quintet performed with Gautier Capuçon.
In recent years, the Quatuor has focused its programs on Beethoven's Quartets, with performances at the Hamburg Elbphilharmonie, the Philharmonie du Luxembourg, New York's Carnegie Hall, the Salzburger Festspiele and the Gstaad Festival Menuhin.
Alexander Lonquichwas born in Trier (Germany). In 1977 he won the First Prize in the Casagrande Competition dedicated to Schubert. Since then he has given concerts in Japan, the United States and in the main European musical centres. He has collaborated with conductors such as C. Abbado, K. Sanderling, T. Koopman, E. Krivine, H. Holliger, M. Minkowski and S. Vègh. In chamber music, he has played with C. Tetzlaff, N. Altstaedt, V. Frang, J. Bell, S. Isserlis, H. Schiff, I. Faust, C. Widmann, J. Widmann, B. Pergamenschikov, H Holliger, F. P. Zimmermann. He has obtained the "Diapason d'Or", the "Premio Abbiati" and the "Premio Edison". As conductor-soloist, he collaborates with the Mantua Chamber Orchestra and, among others, has worked with the Frankfurt Radio Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Deutsche Kammerphilarmonie, Camerata Salzburg, Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Orchester des Champs Elysées and Filarmonica della Scala. He performs regularly for the Accademia Nazionale di S. Cecilia, with which he also collaborates as conductor-soloist. Since 2014 he has been Chief Conductor of the Orchestra of the Teatro Olimpico in Vicenza.
