Veronika Jarůšková, 1st violin
Marek Zwiebel, 2nd violin
Pavel Nikl, viola
Peter Jarůšek, cello
Described as "the most exciting string quartet in the world" (Gramophone), the Pavel Haas Quartet was founded in 2002 and is named after the Czech composer Pavel Haas (1899-1944), who was deported to Theresienstadt in 1941 and murdered in Auschwitz three years later. His musical legacy includes three wonderful string quartets.
Since winning the Italian "Premio Paolo Borciani" String Quartet Competition in 2005, the Pavel Haas Quartet has performed in the world's most important concert halls and has released six award-winning CDs that have been praised by audiences and press alike.
The Prague-based quartet has studied with leading figures in the string quartet world, with a particularly close connection to Milan Škampa, the legendary violist of the Smetana Quartet.
In the 2019/20 season, the quartet will return to major music centers, including the Tonhalle Zurich, Wigmore Hall London, Philharmonie Luxembourg, Stockholm Konserthuset, Società del Quartetto di Milano and festivals such as the Schubertiade. The quartet will give three concerts at the Amsterdam Muziekgebouw as part of the String Quartet Biennale. In January 2020, the quartet will embark on its first tour of Israel, followed by tours to the USA, Canada and Asia, where it will perform again in Beijing and make its debut in Hong Kong and Singapore.
The Pavel Haas Quartet records exclusively for the Czech label Supraphon. The most recent recording with the Shostakovich String Quartets Nos. 2, 7 and 8 was released in October 2019. A new Dvořák recording was released in fall 2017, featuring the String Quintet in E flat major (with violist and former quartet member Pavel Nikl) and the Piano Quintet in A major (with Boris Giltburg). The release with Smetana's two string quartets was named "Best Chamber Music Recording" at the Gramophone Awards 2015. This is the fourth time that the quartet has received this special award: "their sound is, as always, instantly recognizable - firstly through the rich timbre and secondly through the sense of four playing personalities (...). At times it is hard to believe that only four musicians are playing, their sound is so intense".
The Schubert CD released in 2013 with the string quartet "Death and the Maiden" and the string quintet with cellist Danjulo Ishizaka also received a Gramophone Award. With its first recordings, the quartet presented a complete recording of the string quartet literature of Leoš Janáček and Pavel Haas. The recording of Prokofieff's two string quartets, released in 2010, quickly achieved the status of a classic among the available recordings and was awarded a "Diapason d'Or de l'annee". In addition, the Dvořák CD released in the same year received the "CD of the Year 2011" award at the Gramophone Awards.
As early as 2007, the quartet was accepted into the Rising Stars program of the European Concert Hall Association (ECHO) and subsequently performed in numerous large halls worldwide. From 2007 to 2009 it took part in the BBC New Generation Artists Scheme and in 2010 received a Special Ensemble Scholarship from the Borletti-Buitoni Trust.