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WFIMC Café: Arete Quartet

Artists
Competitions

Meet the four young Korean musicians in one of the most successful string quartets around

Founded in September 2019, Arete Quartet passed the Kumho Art Hall Young Chamber Concert audition in the same year and had their debut in September 2020 at Kumho Art Hall Yonsei University. Coached by Jae-young Kim, the leader of Novus-Quartet, the young quartet performed in various venues in Korea before moving to Munich, Germany in order to study with Christoph Poppen at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater.

During their short career as a quartet, the Arete has already won a number of major prizes: First Prize at the Prague Spring intl. Music Competition (2021), First Prize at the International Mozart Competition Salzburg (2023), and First Prize at the Lyon International Chamber Music Competition (2024). At the 2024 Premio Borciani Competition in Reggio Emilia, the quartet reached the 3rd round but could not continue to perform due to a medical emergency. Nevertheless, the jury at the Borciani awarded the quartet a special price for “the unique voice they have shown in the first three rounds of the Premio Borciani 2024”. Moreover, Fondazione I Teatri and Pro Quartet Centre Européen de Musique de Chambre has announced their support of the Arete Quartet at this complex moment.

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WFIMC: Your quartet was founded in 2019- just 5 years ago?

Chaeann Jeon: Yes, in September 2019.

WFIMC: Can you tell me how this happened? Was it a lengthy process, you were trying to find members, or were you already playing and just decided to “make it official”?

Jeon: Actually, our cellist (Seong-hyeon Park) and myself knew each other well as we went to the same university and played chamber music together.

Yoon-sun Jang: At the time, I was still playing violin! 

Jeon: We played some ensemble concerts in Japan and felt we wanted to try and get serious about chamber music. We had always dreamt of a string quartet. But before starting a real string quartet career, we set ourselves one first goal: the Kumho Audition in Korea. If we didn´t win this audition, we would have stopped playing together.

WFIMC: You started playing, but then you had to exchange one player. What happened?

Eunjoong Park: Mandatory Military service in Korea.

WFIMC: Actually, it looks like it was not the first time you had this problem…

Jeon: Right. Our second violinist will have to do military service too, quite soon. But we are still hoping he might get an exemption.

WFIMC: Not an easy thing. Many Korean musicians face this problem. Novus Quartet was “out” for a while, but it survived somehow. It must be very difficult.

PArk: Winning a competition would be the solution… 

Jeon: We are certainly pushing him to try competitions!

WFIMC: “Arete” is a Greek word for “excellence”. Who had the idea for this name?

Jeon: Our cellist came up with the name. He is very interested in philosophy, and wanted to find a meaningful name. “Arete” stands for a concept- living up to one's potential, using all your strength, bravery, and wit. But there is also a goddess called Arete.

WFIMC: And everyone simply agreed?

Jeon: Yes! Nobody was against.

WFIMC: You know the story about the La Salle Quartet? They needed a name- quickly. In 1946, one of their violinists was on the phone with an agent, trying to get a gig. The agent asked for a name of the quartet, and the violinist had to decide, in that very moment. He looked out of the window and saw a street sign: La Salle Street…In your case, you performed as Arete Quartet for the first time at the Kumho Young Art Hall Young Chamber Concert audition. How did this audition go?

Jeon: I was really nervous, but Yoon-sun was even more scared than me! But it went well.

Jang: It was very intense. A lot of people were in this audition, and our teacher, Jaeyoung Kim of the Novus Quartet, was very strict with us. It was really the first time for us to play on stage together, so it was very special. But it went well. After this, we went on to play more concerts and move to Munich, to study with Christoph Poppen.

WFIMC: The longer you play together, the better you get to know each other, the better you work together. How did you find a balance, to live, work, and perform together?

Jang; We had many, many arguments. We still have a lot of arguments, but we know each other well, we communicate very well. We just watch each other’s eyes and we can feel what the other person is thinking.

WFIMC: You argue about musical issues? Bowings? Phrasings? And how do you decide? Do you have a leader who makes the decisions, or do you decide democratically?

Jeon: There is a lot of interaction between our cellist and myself- he always questions my decisions, so we talk very much… it’s not always easy. But in the end, we usually agree…

WFIMC: You have been performing together for 5 years now- how do you feel about the future? Do you think you can manage together for another 40?

Jeon: I think I can. The quartet really feels like my family… playing in a quartet is like getting married with 3 other people! I cannot speak for the others, but myself, I can do it.

WFIMC: How do you divide your time? How much private time do you have? Take your future teacher, Günter Pichler of the Alban Berg Quartet: after a really busy season, they took the summer off, trying to really get away from the routine and completely cut communications, e-mails, letters…in order to refresh and recharge. 

Jeon: Yes, maybe we need that. We have not had a vacation during the last five years.

Jang: We meet at 10 am and rehearse until evening, every day. It has been a very hard time- so right now- with our cellist in the hospital and no rehearsals for the moment- it’s a nice chance to think about our routine, and about our life…

WFIMC: Who chooses repertoire for the quartet? You have a rather special repertoire.

Jeon: True. Actually, the last piece we decided to take on, Alban Berg’s Lyric Suite, was recommended to us by our teacher, Jaeyoung Kim. It’s a very hard piece, but if you can play it well, it is absolutely amazing. 

WFIMC: What other works are you going to work on? 

Jeon: Next year, we are not sure yet. This year, we did the Schumann Quartets. Next maybe we will do Bartok or Mendelssohn. And Janacek No. 2…

WFIMC: When you prepare for a concert, what is your routine right before the performance? Is there something special you do, like doing some warm-up, or intonation together?

Jeon: Right before the concert, we don’t play together. It's like a routine for us because two or three hours before the concert we still play together, but then we take time and stay on our own. And always, I wash my hands before the concert. It's a very important routine…

WFIMC: If you are nervous, what do you do?

Jang: We are not nervous!

Jeon: We usually just take a rest. Dong-Hwi usually spends a lot of time cleaning his instrument, cleaning his strings (Laughs). And I usually eat a chocolate bar and a banana- I need more energy.

WFIMC: You live and study in Munich, Germany. Maybe there are a few Korean restaurants, but it’s very different from Seoul. How do you get along? Do you cook a lot yourselves?

Jeon: Yes, we cook ourselves. Seong-hyeon is a great cook, actually, he is very good at pasta and Korean food. Myself- I can cook as well, but not like him.

WFIMC: Do you like to live in Munich?

Jeon: We like the city, yes. Later this year, we will also study at Reina Sofia in Madrid, with Günter Pichler, but we will keep our appartments in Munich. It’s an expensive city, but very nice, and the cultural level is very high. So far, we have spent more time in Seoul than in Munich. But in the future, this will probably change.

 

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