“Ebullient and incisive…” – The New York Times
Founded in 2013, the Arod Quartet skyrocketed to international attention when they won the coveted First Prize at the 2016 ARD International Music Competition in Munich and went on to serve as a BBC New Generation Artist from 2017-2019. Since then, they have firmly established themselves in performance and on recording at the forefront of the younger generation of string quartets by dazzling audiences around the globe.An exclusive recording artist for Erato Warner Classics, the Arod has released a trio of highly acclaimed, imaginatively programmed, and immaculately recorded albums since their debut Mendelssohn disc in 2017. Their sophomore release entitled “The Mathilde Album” featured works by three key figures in Vienna’s musical life in the early 20th century – Schoenberg, Zemlinksy, and Webern – and honored Mathilde Zemlinksy (the composer’s sister) who became Schoenberg’s wife and was the dedicatee of his second quartet. Most recently, the Arod released a Schubert album featuring Schubert’s “Death and the Maiden” together with two other works. Their new album of French music featuring works by Debussy, Ravel, and Attahir releases in fall 2023. Highlights of the 2023-24 season include performances in their hometown at Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord in Paris, the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, as well as performances in Germany, Italy, and Taiwan. Their U.S. tour includes performances for the La Jolla Music Society, Charlottesville’s Tuesday Evening Concert Series, and performances and masterclasses at the University of Florida.In recent years the Arod has worked very closely with the Ebène Quartet and the Diotima Quartet, and has collaborated with Alexandre Tharaud, Timothy Ridout, Martin Fröst, and Amihai Grosz, the founding member of the Jerusalem Quartet and now the principal violist of the Berlin Philharmonic. Directed by acclaimed French filmmaker Bruno Monsaingeon, the Quartet’s new documentary “Ménage à Quatre” chronicles the day-to-day life of the Quartet, following the Arod into a rehearsal with composer György Kurtág.The group takes its name from Legolas’s horse in J.R.R. Tolkien’s epic Lord of the Rings trilogy; in Tolkien’s mythic Rohirric language, Arod means ‘swift.’ Mécénat Musical Société Générale is the Arod’s principal sponsor, and the ensemble is the 2016 HSBC Laureate of the Académie du Festival d’Aix-en-Provence. The Arod is in residence at the Fondation Singer-Polignac. Jordan Victoria and Alexandre Vu are loan recipients of composite Stradivari and Guadagnini violins through the Beare’s International Violin Society.
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Photo (c) Laure Bernard
