Thursday 1st October 2026, 7:30PM

Chaos Quartet

Susanne Schäffer - Violin
Eszter Kruchió - Violin
Sara Marzadori - Viola
Bas Jongen - Cello  

PROGRAMME:

SCHUBERT
String Quartet in E flat major D87

WEBERN
String Quartet Op.28

KORNGOLD
String Quartet No.2 in E flat major, Op.26

Founded in Vienna in 2019, the quartet embrace chaos as creation itself, the starting point of everything. This idea shapes their music-making, where refined ensemble playing meets fiery energy and adventurous spirit. Their performances are crafted with heart and humour , designed to move, surprise, and ignite the imagination. Their programmes span from Gesualdo over Haydn to Miles Davis, combining classical repertoire with contemporary works, inventive arrangements and improvisation.

Contemporary music holds a special place in their repertoire. Composers such as Richard Ayres, Riccardo Panfili, Jan-Peter de Graaff, Frieda Gustavs, and Alessio Elia have written new works for the ensemble. Their collaboration with Samu Gryllus has introduced improvisational transitions into several programmes, reflecting the quartet’s interdisciplinary approach and adventurous spirit in exploring new concert formats.

The Chaos Quartet has quickly gained international recognition as BBC New Generation Artists (2023–2025), New Austrian Sound of Music (2023-2024), and Emerging Ensemble of the Ulysses Platform (2025–2028). They are prize-winners of major international competitions, including ARD (Munich), Bordeaux, Bad Tölz, Haydn (Vienna), Bartók (Budapest), and the Premio Rimbotti (Italy).

Recent highlights include debut performances at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Beethovenfest Bonn, and returns to Wigmore Hall and the Musikverein Vienna as well as performances at leading festivals such as Davos Festival, Ravenna Festival, Classiche Forme, Lockenhaus Festival, Wien Modern, Mozartfest Würzburg, and the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival. International tours have taken the quartet to China, Mexico, the US and Canada.

Their debut album (Solo Musica, 2024) features works by Haydn, Hensel, and Ligeti, with a second recording — centred on the concept of chaos and supported by SWR and the BBC — released to critical acclaim in February 2026.

The 2025/26 season saw their debut at the Konzerthaus Berlin, the premiere of a new work by Errollyn Wallen, and a major project reimagining Haydn’s Op. 20 Sun Quartets through six new commissions for the 2026 String Quartet Biennale Amsterdam. The quartet players also embark on a teaching residency on the importance of silence and pause in chamber music at the University of Music and Performing Artis Vienna (MDW).

The quartet completed the ECMAster (European Chamber Music Master) under the mentorship of Johannes Meissl (Artis Quartet) and studied with the Quarteto Casals at the Scuola di Musica di Fiesole. They received further musical impulses from artists such as Eberhard Feltz, András Keller , Oliver Wille, Steven Isserlis, and Helmut Lachenmann.

Chaos Quartet is honoured to play on a 1711 Testore violin and a 1669 Jacobs cello, generously loaned by Merito String Instruments Trust and Dutch Musical Instruments Foundation.