Susanne Schäffer, violin
Eszter Kruchió, violin
Sara Marzadori, viola
Bas Jongen, cello

To follow one’s own path unburdened by pre-defined standards. One that transcends barriers and pushes all boundaries – that is the motto of the Chaos String Quartet. Founded on the principles of the rich interdisciplinary concept of “Chaos”, the ensemble’s members Susanne Schäffer, Eszter Kruchió, Sara Marzadori and Bas Jongen share the firm conviction to overcome shallow, superficial aesthetics by the willingness to explore extremes, to take risks and to welcome the unpredictable. The Quartet embraces Chaos as the primal form of all creativity through which science, art and philosophy unite to become one Gesamtkunstwerk.

In addition to receiving musical impulses from a variety of artists such as Clive Brown, Hatto Beyerle, Rainer Schmidt and Oliver Wille, the group is currently mentored by Johannes Meissl (Artis Quartet) in Vienna, respectively. In 2019, the quartet was selected for the prestigious ECMAster (European Chamber Music Master) Programme: a two-year joint study programme at graduate level with tailor-made curricula, enabling the group to further develop their artistic, technical and social skills so as to be a strong, independent and innovative ensemble in tomorrow’s music scene.

Hosted by the European Chamber Music Academy, the Chaos String Quartet will receive valuable artistic guidance and take advantage of the expertise, culture and tradition of the universities in Vienna, Oslo, and Paris. This includes an inter-disciplinary project centred on the science and philosophy of the group’s namesake concept of “Chaos”, through which the ensemble will be involved in collaborating with a wide range of composers and artists.

For the season 2019/2020 the Chaos String Quartet has been invited as “Quartet in Residence” at the Podium Festival Mödling in Austria as well as for concert tours through the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Norway and Spain.

Susanne plays a violin made by Stefan-Peter Greiner (Bonn, 2005), kindly loaned to her by the German Music Instrument Foundation and Bas Jongen plays a rare cello by Hendrick Jacobs (Amsterdam, ±1690), on loan from the Dutch National Musical Instruments Foundation.

Ph. Andrej Grilc
www.chaosquartet.com