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 The Akademos Quartet was founded in 1997 by graduates of the Karol Szymanowski Academy of
Music in
Katowice. Since its inception, the Quartet has been praised for its
members’ technical maturity, brilliance, and professionalism as well as
for their novelty, vigor, and enthusiasm. Its current members are
Anna Rechlewicz (violin), Joanna Cogiel (violin),
Aleksandra Batog (viola) and Danuta Sobik-Ptok (cello).
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In its 10-year-long career, the ensemble has given over three
hundred concerts in
Poland and abroad,
performed at national and international festivals and music
competitions, and won numerous prizes and distinctions. They have
performed in musical centers of Austria, the Czech Republic, Germany,
Lithuania, Slovakia, Romania, the United Kingdom, Italy, and the United
States.
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The ensemble won first prize at the 16th Concorso
Internationale di Esecuzione Musicale "Provincia di Caltanisetta Musica
da Camera" in Italy, third prize at the Ludwig van Beethoven
International Competition in Hradec, Czech Republic, a Radio Katowice
special prize for the best performance of a Silesian composer's work,
and the PWM (Polish Music Publishing) prize at the National String
Quartets Competition in Katowice. They are also the recipients of a
scholarship presented by the Ministry of Culture and Art, and a prize
from the President of the City of
Bytom for special
achievement in the field of culture.
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The Akademos Quartet has taken part in dozens of music
festivals: the Warszawska Jesien (Warsaw Autumn), Dni Muzyki
Kompozytorow Krakowskich (Krakow Composers' Music Days), Hudobna Jar in
Presov, Slovakia , Festival di Mezza Estate Provincia di Verona, the
Central European Festival Zilina, the Bachfest in Leipzig, and the
Osterfestival Bayreuth, among many others. The ensemble's repertoire
encompasses more than one hundred compositions, including masterworks of
chamber music from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and classics
of the twentieth century. The quartet maintains a strong interest in
contemporary music, having actively commissioned new works, and has
numerous world premieres of contemporary pieces to its credit. Moreover,
the ensemble often participates in interdisciplinary projects,
cooperating with the Slaski Teatr Tanca (Silesian Dance Theatre) and
Orkiestra Muzyki Nowej (New Music Orchestra).
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The Akademos Quartet engages in artistic projects throughout
the province of
Silesia.
Since 1997 until 2005, the ensemble hosts and is the principal performer
of a cycle of chamber concerts taking place in the palace of the former
district council (now a branch of the Upper Silesia Museum in Bytom). In
2006, this enterprise took the shape of a cycle called "Salony muzyczne
Slaska" ("The Music Salons of Silesia") and is now delivering chamber
music masterworks in the most beautiful interiors of palaces and museums
in the province of Silesia. The 2006/2007 season of "The Music Salons of
Silesia” was inaugurated with a new project entitled “Not for Elise,”
with its aim of introducing the complete Beethoven quartets juxtaposed
with exceptional works of the twentieth century.
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During the summer season, the Quartet is the main performer
at the monographic Chamber Music Masterworks Festivals. The 2006 edition
dealt with the presentation of chamber music masterworks by Wolfgang
Amadeus Mozart, whereas in 2007 the ensemble is offering the most
outstanding trios and quartets by Ludwig van Beethoven.
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