Echo Rising Stars – Quatuor Agate

Rising Stars is a unique and forward-looking collaboration between 24 of Europe’s leading concert halls, all members of the European Concert Hall Organisation (ECHO). A handful of young musicians and ensembles from various countries are selected each year and given the opportunity to tour the concert halls and perform before international audiences. Experience shows that those who are selected as Rising Stars also have internationally successful careers.

The French Quatuor Agate took their name from Brahms's incredibly beautiful second string sextet, which he dedicated to one of his great loves, Agathe von Siebold (the other being Clara Schumann). The quartet has been awarded several prizes, including for the best performance of new music at the Banff International String Quartet Competition in Canada, and the audience prize at the Verbier Festival. Their recent debut album delves deeply into Brahms, featuring all three string quartets.

On the program, they also include Joseph Haydn's quartet commonly known as "The Joke," referring to his first substitution of a minuet movement with a scherzo, Italian for a joke or jest. Between Haydn's classical quartet and Korngold's restless and energetically explosive third string quartet, Quatuor Agate presents a newly composed piece by the exciting Ukrainian singer, pianist, organist, conductor, and composer Anna Korsun.

Rising Stars is a unique and forward-looking collaboration between 24 of Europe’s leading concert halls, all members of the European Concert Hall Organisation (ECHO). A handful of young musicians and ensembles from various countries are selected each year and given the opportunity to tour the concert halls and perform before international audiences. Experience shows that those who are selected as Rising Stars also have internationally successful careers.