Arete Quartet, First Korean Winner of the Lyon Chamber Music Competition in France

The string quartet 'Arete Quartet' became the first Korean to win the string quartet category at the 19th Lyon International Chamber Music Competition held in Lyon, France, the agency Mok Production announced on the 27th.

Arete Quartet won a total of six awards, including five special prizes such as the Audience Award, Contemporary Music Award, and Interpretation Award for the designated piece, setting the record for the most awards won by Koreans at the competition.

From the left: Park Eun-jung (Second Violin), Jeon Chae-an (First Violin), Jang Yoon-sun (Viola), Park Sung-hyun (Cello) [Photo by Mok Production]

Composed of Jeon Chae-an (1st violin), Park Eun-jung (2nd violin), Jang Yoon-sun (viola), and Park Sung-hyun (cello), Arete Quartet was formed in 2019. All members are graduates of the Korea National University of Arts, and the quartet has an average age of 26, making it a young string quartet. Since its formation, it has continued to win prestigious international competitions. They won the string quartet category at the 2023 Mozart International Competition, receiving the highest interpretation award for Mozart string quartets, and in 2021, they became the first Koreans to win 1st place in the string quartet category at the Prague Spring International Music Competition, sweeping five special awards. With this victory at the Lyon Competition, Arete Quartet set the record for the most wins by a Korean string quartet at competitions affiliated with the World Federation of International Music Competitions.

In Korea, they received the Artsilvia Award at the Artsilvia Chamber Music Audition and are currently scholarship recipients of the Surim Cultural Foundation.

The Lyon International Chamber Music Competition was held over four days from the 23rd to the 26th local time. Established in 2004, it is held annually. Up to the 19th competition this year, more than 1,300 young musicians from 35 countries have participated. Previous Korean winners include the Novus Quartet, the resident ensemble at London's Wigmore Hall for the 2022-2023 season, and the Abel Quartet, winners of the Haydn International Chamber Music Competition.

On the 26th, at the final round held at Lyon City Hall, Arete Quartet performed the first movement of Mozart's String Quintet and Alban Berg's 'Lyric Suite' together with Jean-Baptiste Magnon, violist of the Lyon Opera Orchestra, securing their victory.

Park Sung-hyun, leader of Arete Quartet, said, "It is a great honor to win first place and special awards at the 19th Lyon International Chamber Music Competition. The competition is an opportunity to prove our skills, but more importantly, we hope this award will help raise awareness of string quartets in Korea. We ask for continued interest in string quartets and Arete Quartet in the future."

Arete Quartet is actively performing between Korea and Europe and is scheduled to debut at the Rheingau Music Festival in Germany on July 20-21.