Chaos String Quartet

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

Founded in 2019 on the interdisciplinary concept of chaos in the arts, science, and philosophy, the Chaos String Quartet has gained an international reputation for its highly refined performances, which manifest dynamism, resourcefulness, and passion for exploring new and experimental approaches.

Recently selected as a BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artist 2023-2025, the Chaos String Quartet has rapidly established itself on the international music scene. The Quartet has been awarded at the most prestigious international competitions, such as ARD (2022), Bordeaux (2022), Haydn (2023) and Bad Tölz (2023). Additional successes include winning the Second Prize at the Bartók World Competition in Budapest (2021), and the coveted Prize of the International Competition for String Quartet V. E. Rimbotti in Italy (2020).

The Chaos String Quartet has been invited to appear in renowned music festivals, such as Ravenna Festival, Schwetzingen SWR Festival, Mozartfest Würzburg, Les Musicales de Normandie, Davos Festival, Schwarzwald Musikfestival, Festival del Quartetto Firenze, Lockenhaus, Gent Festival van Vlaanderen, Festival Academy Budapest, Heidelberger Streichquartettfest, amongst others. In 2023, the Quartet made its debut at the Musikverein in Vienna and the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg.

The Quartet has collaborated with artists like Nicolas Baldeyrou, Alexander Ullman, Giampaolo Bandini, Avri Levitan, Hyung-ki Joo and Christoph Zimper. In addition, Chaos had the opportunity to work with composer Helmut Lachenmann on his Second Quartet, “Reigen seliger Geister”.

Mentored by Prof. Johannes Meissl in Vienna through the ECMAster programme, the Chaos String Quartet has completed the postgraduate course at the Scuola di Musica di Fiesole under the guidance of the legendary Cuarteto Casals. The Quartet received additional important musical impulses from artists such as Eberhard Feltz, Patrick Jüdt, Rainer Schmidt, Hatto Beyerle, András Keller and Oliver Wille. The Quartet is a member of the chamber music association Le Dimore del Quartetto and has been selected for the promotional programme New Austrian Sound of Music.

Eszter Kruchió plays a violin by Stefan-Peter Greiner, a generous private loan. Bas Jongen plays a rare cello by Hendrick Jacobs (Amsterdam, 1696), kindly loaned to him by the Dutch Musical Instruments Foundation (NMF).