Arcanto Quartet
Antje Weithaas, Violin
Daniel Sepec, Violin
Tabea Zimmermann, Viola
Jean-Guihen Queyras, Cello
Antje Weithaas, Daniel Sepec, Tabea Zimmermann, and Jean-Guihen Queyras founded the Arcanto Quartet in 2002 after several years of playing chamber music together in various combinations. The four musical soul-mates, who also share a close personal friendship, quickly took the chamber music world by storm with their spirited playing, fueled by the joy of bringing music to life.
The Arcanto Quartet’s highly successful concert debut took place in June 2004 in Stuttgart, Germany. This was followed by performances at the Beethoven-Haus (Bonn), Wigmore Hall (London), Théâtre du Châtelet (Paris), Concertgebouw (Amsterdam), Vienna Konzerthaus, and Auditorio Nacional de Musica (Madrid), as well as at the Ludwigsburger Schlossfestspiele and festivals in Edinburgh, Helsinki, and Montreux. The quartet has also toured both Israel and Japan. During its 2008–2009 season, the quartet made debuts at the Rheingau Musik Festival, Kunstfest Weimar, Tonhalle (Zurich), and Philharmonie (Berlin). Following the success of its first two CDs, the Arcanto Quartet has recently released its third CD for Harmonia Mundi, with works by Ravel, Dutilleux, and Debussy.
Adding to the ensemble’s 2008 tour of Israel and 2009 tour of Japan, Arcanto travels to North America in October 2010, introducing itself to a whole new continent.
As one of the most sought-after soloists and chamber musicians of her generation, Ms. Weithaas has a wide-ranging repertoire that includes the great concertos by Mozart, Beethoven, and Schumann; modern classics by Shostakovich, Prokofiev, and Ligeti; and lesser performed concertos by Korngold, Hartmann, and Schoeck. Ms. Weithaas has appeared with Germany’s leading orchestras, including the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, the Bamberger Symphoniker, and the major German radio orchestras. She has also played with numerous internationally renowned symphonies, such as the Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Philharmonia Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, and the leading orchestras of the Netherlands, Scandinavia, and Asia. She has worked with illustrious conductors Vladimir Ashkenazy, Sir Neville Marriner, Sakari Oramo, Thomas Dausgaard, Andrey Boreyko, and Christian Zacharias. Ms. Weithaas is particularly active in the field of chamber music and has collaborated with Lars Vogt, Christian Tetzlaff, and Sharon Kam, among others. She has been a professor of violin at the Hochschule für Musik “Hanns Eisler” Berlin since 2004.
Mr. Sepec studied with Dieter Vorholz in Frankfurt and Gerhard Schulz in Vienna. Additionally, he has taken part in master classes with Sandor Végh and the Alban Berg Quartet. Since 1993, he has been concertmaster of the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, and he regularly solos with the orchestra under conductors Daniel Harding, Thomas Hengelbrock, Frans Brüggen, and Trevor Pinnock. Attracted to the richness of expression in Baroque music, he regularly acts as concertmaster of the Balthasar-Neumann-Ensemble under the baton of Thomas Hengelbrock. Mr. Sepec has also performed as guest concertmaster with The Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Camerata Bern, and Camerata Academica Salzburg. As a soloist, he has appeared with the Academy of Ancient Music under Christopher Hogwood, and the Vienna Academy under Martin Haselböck. He played Biber’s Rosenkranz Sonatas on Baroque violin at the Vienna Konzerthaus and at the Innsbruck Festival of Early Music. As a chamber musician, Mr. Sepec is regularly invited to the Schubertiade Schwarzenberg.
Ms. Zimmermann studied with Ulrich Koch at the Hochschule für Musik Freiburg and with Sándor Végh at the Salzburg Mozarteum. Between 1982 and 1984, she won competitions in Geneva, Budapest, and Paris. As a soloist, Ms. Zimmermann regularly works with the most distinguished orchestras, from the Berliner Philharmoniker and the London Symphony Orchestra to the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and the Orchestre de Paris. She has recorded all the standards of the viola repertoire to great acclaim. A devoted performer of contemporary music, she recently premiered Ligeti’s Sonata for Solo Viola—a piece that was dedicated to her—as well as viola concertos by Sally Beamish, Wolfgang Rihm, and Heinz Holliger. Ms. Zimmermann is in high demand as a chamber musician and has worked with such well-known artists as Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Hartmut Höll, Christian Tetzlaff, and the Alban Berg Quartet. Following professorships in Saarbrücken and Frankfurt am Main, she has taught at the Hochschule für Musik “Hanns Eisler” Berlin since 2002.
Mr. Queyras and his releases for Harmonia Mundi have been lauded unanimously by the international press. His recorded performance of Britten’s solo suites has been hailed by both Gramophone and BBC Music Magazine. His recordings of Bach’s complete solo suites and of a collection of pieces by Debussy and Poulenc were both awarded the Diapason d’Or de l’Année. A former soloist of Pierre Boulez’s Ensemble Intercontemporain, Mr. Queyras also performs extensively with internationally renowned orchestras and is regularly invited to participate in concert series all over the world. In November 2002, he was awarded the City of Toronto Glenn Gould International Protégé Prize. In 2008, he was named Instrumental Soloist of the Year by Victoires de la Musique Classique and Artist of the Year, as voted by readers of The Diapason magazine. Mr. Queyras plays on a Gioffredo Cappa cello from 1696, lent to him by the Mécénat Musical Société Générale.
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