Mucha Quartet

Mucha Quartet (Juraj Tomka, 1st violin; Jozef Ostrolucký, 2nd violin; Veronika Kubešová, viola; Pavol Mucha, cello) was established in 2003 at the Conservatory in Bratislava and it belongs to prominent chamber music ensembles in Slovakia. The first teacher of the quartet was Stanislav Mucha, the former 1st violinist of the Moyzes Quartet. The members of the quartet studied chamber music at the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava (Ján Slávik,) at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna (Johannes Meissl), and also at the Escuela Superior de Musica Reina Sofía in Madrid (Gunter Pichler). The ensemble was awarded many prizes at international competitions (Prague, Lugano, Vienna, Brno). Mucha Quartet obtained important artistic impulses at the International Summer Academy 2012 and 2013 in Reichenau (AT) under the artistic leadership of Peter Schuhmayer, Johannes Meissl, Othmar Muller, Hatto Beyerle, Miguel da Silva, Evgenia Epshtein, Jan Talich, Petr Prause, Josef Klusoň, Andras Keller. They also took part in prestigious masterclasses in Austria, France and Kanada. The ensemble has given concerts at music festivals and cultural events in Slovakia and abroad (Bratislava Music Festival, Prague Spring, Concentus Moraviae, Bordeaux String Quartet Festival, Allegretto Festival Žilina, Sunday Matinee in the Mirbach Palace, Albrechtina – (Un)Known Music, chamber cycle of the Slovak Philharmonic, Luxembourg Philharmony, Music Summer Reichenau, Schubertiade Schwarzenberg), they gave a recital in the Viennese Musikverein and performed during the official visit of the English Queen Elizabeth II. to Slovakia. In 2016 they toured South Korea and China. They were awarded many prizes (the Prize of the Mayor of Piešťany, the title Young Artist within the Tatra banka Foundation). Their recordings include their profile CD (Diskant, 2013), “Slovak Songs” by Bela Bartok in co-operation with Iva Bittová (Pavian Records, 2016) ), CD “Bella – Dvořák” (Diskant, 2017), as well as CD “Štyria hudci” (Four Musicians, Pavian Records, 2018). Mucha Quartet was the ensemble-in-residence of the Devín Radio in the years 2016–2017. Among their periodic projects we can mention musica_litera (joining the worlds of classical music and poetic words).

http://www.muchaquartet.sk/