Artemis Quartet

The first members of the Artemis Quartet, Wilken Ranck, Isabel Trautwein, Volker Jacobsen, and Eckart Runge, met as students in Lübeck.{{cite news | author=Anthony Tommasini | title=No Laws Broken, Artemis Quartet Goes on Tour | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/12/arts/no-laws-broken-artemis-quartet-goes-on-tour.html | work=The New York Times | date=12 February 2004 | access-date=26 May 2021}} Heime Müller replaced Isabel Trautwein in 1991. For personal and health reasons, Wilken Ranck left the quartet in 1994, and Volker Jacobsen and Heime Müller left at the end of the 2006/07 season.{{cite news | author=Anthony Tommasini | title=A Change in Ingredients Doesn't Always Alter the Taste | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/19/arts/music/19arte.html | work=The New York Times | date=19 April 2008 | access-date=26 May 2021}} Natalia Prishepenko, the subsequent first violinist of the quartet, resigned after 18 years of membership in the ensemble in 2012. Newer members were Gregor Sigl (2nd violin), the violist Friedemann Weigle (until his death in July 2015){{cite news |last=Hagedorn |first=Volker |date=8 July 2015 |title=Ganz für die anderen und ganz bei sich |url=http://www.zeit.de/kultur/musik/2015-07/friedemann-weigle-viola-bratsche-nachruf |work=Zeit online |location=Hamburg |language=German |access-date=3 August 2017}}{{cite news |last=Lemke-Matwey |first=Christine |date=28 March 2016 |title=Häutungen eines Igels |url=http://www.zeit.de/2016/12/artemis-quartett-nachfolger-friedemann-weigle-bratscher-musik |work=Zeit online |location=Hamburg |language=German |access-date=3 August 2017}} and the Latvian violinist Vineta Sareika (1st violin). In 2016, Anthea Kreston joined as the group's new second violinist and toured with the quartet until 2019. In April 2019, violinist Suyoen Kim and cellist Harriet Krijgh joined the ensemble. In May 2021, the quartet announced a hiatus in its activities, with the intention to regroup in the future.{{cite news | title=Artemis Quartett pausiert: Ein Rückschlag zuviel | url=https://www.br-klassik.de/aktuell/news-kritik/artemis-quartett-getrennt-pause-100.html | work=BR-Klassik | date=25 May 2021 | access-date=4 September 2021 | language=German}}

The recordings of the ensemble were awarded several prizes, recently including the ECHO Klassik 2006 for their recording of the Beethoven Quartets Op. 95 and 59/1. The quartet was awarded the German Critics' Prize 2001, and the Würth Prize of Jeunesses Musicales Germany 2007. In 2015 the quartet was again awarded the ECHO Klassik in the category of chamber music recording of the year.[http://www.echoklassik.de/klassik-preistraeger/ echoklassik.de – Preisträger 2015] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20150919202531/http://www.echoklassik.de/klassik-preistraeger/ |date=19 September 2015 }} retrieved 19 October 2015

The Artemis Quartet has had an exclusive recording contract with Virgin Classics/EMI since 2005. Their discography includes

• Beethoven: String Quartets Opp. 59 & 95 (2005)
• Ligeti: String Quartet Nos 1 & 2 (2005)
• Verklärte Nacht (2006)
• Dvořák, Janáček: String Quartets (2006)
• Schumann, Brahms: Piano Quintets with Leif Ove Andsnes (2006)
• Schubert: String Quintet in C & String Quartet No. 703 with Truls Mørk (2007)"Benchmark recordings of Schubert masterpieces." Stradivarius September 2012;123(1469):105.
• Beethoven: String Quartets Op. 18 No. 4 & Op. 59 No. 2 (2008)
• Beethoven: String Quartets Op. 130 No. 133 & Op. 18 No. 6 (2010)
• Beethoven: String Quartets Op. 18 No. 1 & Op. 127 (2010)
• Beethoven: String Quartets Op. 18 No. 5, Op. 18 No. 3, Op. 135 (2011)
• Beethoven: Complete String Quartets (2011)
• Schubert: String Quartets No. 13-15: Rosamunde, Death and the Maiden, String Quartet No. 15 (2012)

• 1st Violin: Wilken Ranck (1989–1994), Natalia Prishepenko (1994–2012), Vineta Sareika (2012–present)
• 2nd Violin: Isabel Trautwein (1989–1991), Heime Müller (1991–2007), Gregor Sigl (2007–2016), Anthea Kreston (2016–2019), Suyoen Kim (2019–present)
• Viola: Volker Jacobsen (1989–2007), Friedemann Weigle (2007–2015), Gregor Sigl (2016-present)
• Violoncello: Eckart Runge (1989–2019), Harriet Krijgh (2019-present)

{{Reflist}}

• {{Official|http://www.artemisquartet.com}}

{{Accademia Musicale Chigiana International Prize laureates}}

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Category:German string quartets

Category:Erato Records artists

Category:Musical groups established in 1989