Mona Quartet

Has been a resident artist since 2021

Elina Buksha, Charlotte Chahuneau violin
Arianna Smith viola
Caroline Sypniewski cello

The Quatuor Mona has been praised by ClassiqueNews for having “an unmatched energy in the string quartet genre. The communication is so alive and beautiful to watch, they generously give the audience access to all the splendors of the score.”

The quartet world has never before seen such a diverse group of young women. They represent the unity of Japanese, French, Israeli, American, Chinese and German backgrounds and have thus created their own universal language. Breaking ground in the classical music scene, the quartet is also the first all-female quartet to join the prestigious New Generation Artists roster at BBC Radio 3 in London for the 2021-23 seasons.

Bertrand Boissard from Diapason praised the quartet for their interpretation of Germaine Tailleferre’s Quartet: “impelling a great dynamism to this simple fantasy, all in doing justice to its flexibility, its tender lyricism and its furtive shadows. With a convincing style and plenty of vitality: do not lose sight of the Monas.”

Tristan Labouret from Bachtrack described how “the four musicians knew how to vary the characters and circulate the different energies, passing with ease from the delicate lace of the central movement to the roughness of the finale.”

Founded in 2018 at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris, the Quatuor Mona immediately established a presence in the French capital performing at such venues as the Pierre Boulez Hall at the Philharmonie de Paris, the Petit Palais, Salle Cortot, Radio France’s Studio 104 as well as being featured on “Générations France Musique.” In 2020, they were selected among the most promising young quartets from the world to perform at the String Quartet Biennale at the Cité de la Musique.

In the 2021/22 season, you can look for the quartet at the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, the Brucknerhaus Linz, the Biennale de la Philharmonie de Paris, the Philharmonie de Luxembourg alongside Jean-François Zygel, Icking Festival, and the Concerts de Poche with the Quatuor Modigliani.

The quartet has collaborated with such artists as Emmanuel Pahud, Abdel Rahman El Bacha, Paul Meyer, Philippe Graffin and Marie-Joseph Jude, and have unofficially become the quartet-in- residence at the Festival de Salon-de-Provence. They have recently have as well performed at the Edinburgh International Festival, Rencontres Musicales d’Évian at the Grange au Lac, Quatuors à Bordeaux, Heidelberger Frühling Festival, Preludes de Pont Aven, Les Vacances de Monsieur Haydn, Festival Debussy and Festival de Dinard.

Mesmerised by their talent after their debut at Musique à Flaine, the pianist and composer Abdel Rahman El Bacha dedicated his piece “Prélude à cordes” to the young quartet and invited them to perform at the Royal Theatre in Brussels, broadcasted live on Musiq3 during the Classissimo Festival.

In 2019, they were named Artists in Residence at ProQuartet in Paris, the Foundation Villa Musica in Germany, Dimore Del Quartetto in Italy, Live Music Now and the Escuela Reina Sofia in Madrid with Günther Pichler (Alban Berg Quartet). Since their formation, the quartet has worked with musical pedagogues such as Luc-Marie Aguera (Quatuor Ysaÿe), François Salque, Jérôme Pernoo, Quatuor Modigliani, Mathieu Herzog (Quatuor Ebène), Valentin Erben (Alban Berg String Quartet), Rainer Schmidt (Hagen Quartet) and Martin Beaver (Tokyo String Quartet).

The quartet is new to the competition scene but has already won prizes at the Philharmonie de Paris’ 3rd Annual Tremplin as well as the Prix de l’Orangerie de Sceaux and the Prix du Méjan from their time at the Festival Ravel.

Photo: Issey Nadaud

Vidéo

Concerts at Fondation Singer-Polignac

Festival Singer-Polignac: Quatuor Mona | June 3, 2022

Tour dates