Three decades after its founding in Tokyo in 1992, the Stuttgart-based Lotus Quartet, is a phenomenon in several regards: as one of the few ensembles on the international quartet scene with female players in all positions, it has been playing over a particularly long period of time with a largely constant lineup. The synthesis of cultural influences from Japan and Germany, characteristic of the musical spirit of the Lotus Quartet, has been reinforced when Swantje Tauscher, the first concertmaster of the Freiburg Philharmonic Orchestra, joined in 2022 as second violinist. Like her quartet partners, Tauscher received fundamental artistic impulses working with Peter Buck of the Melos Quartet and Rainer Schmidt, second violinist of the Hagen Quartet.

The quartets of Viennese Classicism and German Romanticism as well as the French Impressionists form focal points of the Lotus Quartet's repertoire. In addition, contemporary Japanese composers such as Töru Takemitsu and Toshio Hosokawa play an important role, as well as works by Helmut Lachenmann and the Second Viennese School. The recording of selected quartets by Mozart and a production with contemporary Japanese composers (Teldec, 1997 and 2000) as well as a CD with lesser-known quartets by the Bohemian Johann Baptist Vanhal (cpo, 2014) received critical acclaim. The outstanding press reviews were in stark contrast to the prejudice about Asian musicians not understanding the intellectual universe of the European repertoire, still widespread at the time.

As early as 1993, the Lotus Quartet won third prize at the renowned international chamber music competition in Osaka. A scholarship enabled the four musicians to participate in master classes of the Amadeus and Melos Quartets. From 1995 on, they studied with the Melos Quartet at the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Künste in Stuttgart. Further achievements at international competitions include the second prize at the Viotti Competition in Italy (1995), followed by the Menuhin Prize at the London Quartet Competition 1996/97, the third prize at the "Premio Paolo Borciani" and the first prize at the competition of the Kulturkreis der Deutschen Wirtschaft im BDI.

Within a short time, the Lotus Quartet established itself as a regular guest at the prominent German chamber music series in Munich, Erfurt, Bruchsal, or Braunschweig, as well as at summer festivals such as the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival and the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival. Here the musicians worked intensively with Walter Levin, former primarius of the LaSalle Quartet, in 1998. The same period saw the beginning of the Lotus Quartet's international career, with concerts in Valencia, Zurich, Tokyo, and Osaka, among others.

In addition to its regular engagements at major venues in Germany such as the Konzerthaus Berlin, the Laeiszhalle in Hamburg, the Tonhalle Düsseldorf or the Liederhalle in Stuttgart and important festivals, the Lotus Quartet has made successful guest appearances in numerous European countries. The quartet regularly tours its home country Japan performing in major music venues. Since 1998 the four musicians return annually to Darmstadt, where they performed the complete quartet works of Beethoven. In November 2004 they started their Schubert cycle, and from 2008 the Lotus Quartet presented Mozart's ten late quartets and five string quintets in a series of five concerts. In 2012, the ensemble celebrated its 20th anniversary with a concert at Izumi Hall in Osaka, which was recorded by Japan's NHK television. In 2017, the Lotus Quartet repeated their Beethoven cycle in Japan, followed by performances of Beethoven's late quartets in several Japanese cities in 2018.

Cyclical performances of the compositions by great composers such as Mozart, Schubert, Schumann, Brahms, and Beethoven play a central role in the Lotus Quartet's regular Japan tours. The ensemble's 30th-anniversary tour in February 2023 will culminate in two evenings of performances of all six string quartets by Felix Mendelssohn.

The Lotus Quartet's chamber music partners have included Wolfgang Boettcher, Martin Fröst, Sebastian Manz, Peter Buck, Wolfgang Güttler, Philippe Tondre, and Bernd Glemser.

November 2022

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