Schlagquartett Koeln

About Schlagquartett Koeln

The Schlagquartett Köln [Percussion Quartet Cologne] made their debut at the Witten Days for New Chamber Music in 1989. Their multi-faceted and adventurous repertory ranges widely through percussion music of the 20th and 21st centuries. Numerous concerts, radio productions, and premieres of works by Carola Bauckholt, Edison Denissow, Beat Furrer, Nicolaus A. Huber, Wolfgang Rihm, Dieter Schnebel, Salvatore Sciarrino, Gerhard Stäbler, Volker Staub, Casper Johannes Walter, and many others document the now more than 20 years of continuous work undertaken by this unusual instrumental combination.

In close collaboration with the younger generation of composers, the musicians of the ensemble have created considerable opportunity for the solution of compositional problems through the development of innovative playing techniques and the construction of special instruments.

In addition to their work with the ensemble, the individual members concertize as soloists and have been engaged by well-known orchestras and chamber music ensembles: among them Ensemble Modern, Klangforum Wien, Ensemble musikFabrik, Ascolta Ensemble, and Kammerensemble Neue Musik Berlin. The Schlagquartett Köln appears often in international festivals and is active in the realization of music theater projects, including cooperation with the Düsseldorf theater and opera house and the State Theater in Wiesbaden.

In 2003, the ensemble was awarded the support prize of the Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation.
www.schlagquartett.de