Estarellas Quartet

ESTARELLAS QUARTETT

Gabriel Estarellas Pascual, violin 1

Muriel Quistad, violin 2

Lea Gabriela Heinzer Estarellas, viola

Olaf Krüger, violonchelo

The Estarellas Quartet was founded in 2004 by the violinist Gabriel Estarellas Pascual. While the ensemble performs music from all styles and epochs, Spanish music holds a special place at the center of their repertoire.

The Estarellas Quartet has been invited to give concerts in Switzerland, Italy, Spain, France, etc., and to national and international festivals, including the II Festival de Música de Oviedo, Musiksommer am Zürichsee, Trecastagni International Music Festival, IV Festival International de Guitare de Paris, ORPHEUS Festival concerts in Zurich, Festival Internacional de Música de Málaga, and the Appenzeller Winter, evening music in Bergün, to name a few. The quartet's 2005 Spanish debut in Oviedo met with both critical acclaim and public success, the press hailing these "four exceptional young musicians". The Estarellas Quartet has made live recordings for DRS 2 and RNE (Spanish National Radio), with works by Haydn, Debussy, F. Martin, and A. García Abril. It has also recently been a prizewinner of the ORPHEUS-Konzerte and Migros-Kulturprozent chamber music competitions.

Contemporary Music also plays a central role in the ensemble's repertoire, performing works by composers such as Antón García Abril, R. Maldonado, R. Coinel, M. Porten, and J. Hagen. The ensemble performed the premiere of García Abril's Piano Quintet "Alba de los Caminos" in Málaga. They have also premiered García Abril's "Cuarteto para el nuevo milenio", which is dedicated to them, on the occasion of the composer's acceptance of the "Tomás Luis de Victoria" prize at the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando in Madrid in 2007. Both of these works have also been recorded by the Estarellas Quartet under the Spanish record label SELLO AUTHOR. In this CD, the "wonderful interpretation of the Estarellas Quartet" (RITMO magazine) has also received much acclaim.

The Estarellas Quartet has participated in master classes by ensembles including the Orpheus Quartet and has been coached by Antón García Abril, Nora Chastain, and the Carmina Quartet, culminating in an ensemble diploma received from the Zürcher Hochschule der Künste.

In addition, the members of the Estarellas Quartet's participate in various educational activities, and regularly work together with the youth orchestra of Oberthurgau (JOT), where they work on section playing with aspiring musicians.

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