8 July

Founded in 1987 at the Liszt Conservatory in Budapest, the KELLER QUARTET achieved their international breakthrough in 1990 when winning all prizes and special awards at the Evian and Borciani Competitions. Even though the quartet members have all completed their degrees as soloists, string quartet playing has always been their first choice. Gyorgy Kurtag one of the most famous contemporary composers, writes works especially for the Quartet. The Keller Quartet can be characterised by musical curiosity: curiosity about encounters with musicians and composers of all genres, curiosity about unknown works and new forms of programming, where unusual combinations develop their own dramatic tension. Exemplary for this is their famous Bach/Kurtag program where parts of Bach’s Art of the Fugue are intertwined with works by Gyorgy Kurtag. In search of connecting old and new, the Quartet and the composer Jorg Widmann developed a new programming idea: Jorg Widmann composed his second string quartet, in relation to Joseph Haydn’s Seven Last Words of our Saviour on the Cross. The Keller Quartet often devices the programme of international chamber music days and short festivals where they regularly invite their musical partners, such as Miklos Perenyi, Chen Halevi, Alexej Lubimov and Ewa Kupiec. Their recording of the complete string quartets of Bartok for Erato caused a sensation at the time. The year 2003 saw the release of a CD with Schnittke’s Piano Quintet (with Alexej Lubimov) and the last string quartet of Shostakovich. Very successful are their recordings for ECM, among them Art of the Fugue and all string quartets of Kurtag. In 2007 the Quartet celebrated its 20th anniversary with concerts, among others at the Wigmore Hall in London, in Essen, Berlin Philharmonie, Milan, Hamburg and Brussels.

ANDRAS ADORJAN completed his musical studies under the auspieces of Aurиle Nicolet and Jean-Pierre Rampal. After winning two international prizes in 1968: in Copenhagen Jacob Gade Prize and in Montreux the Concours International de Flute, Andras Adorjan was unanimously awarded the Premier Grand Prix of the Concours International de Flute de Paris in 1971. This was the beginning of an international career which has led him to appear worldwide as soloist with the best chamber and symphony orchestras. Between 1970 and 1987 his activities included the position of principal flautist of important symphony orchestras in Stockholm, Cologne, Baden-Baden and Munich. 1987 he was appointed professor at the Musikhochschule in Cologne and since 1996 he has taught at the Musikhochschule in Munich. A. Adorjan is a welcome guest at many festivals and he is very active in widening the flute literature by playing many (re)discovered by him pieces as well as compositions by contemporary composers inspired by and written for him. More than 100 records and CDs (1988 Prize of the Deutsche Schallplattenkritik) testify to the eminent artistry of Andras Adorjan.