Sonar Quartett

About Sonar Quartett

The Sonar Quartett – Susanne Zapf and Wojciech Garbowski (violin), Nikolaus Schlierf (viola) and Cosima Gerhardt (violoncello) – does not shy away from risk in this respect and now occupies a firm position in the world of New Music. Alongside performances at the Ultraschall and MaerzMusik festivals in Berlin, Deutschlandfunk's Forum Neuer Musik, the Hessian Broadcasting Corporation's Young China Festival and the Siemens Arts Program, among others, the quartet is increasingly being invited to perform at international festivals, which include London Ears, Gaudeamus Utrecht, Présences Paris, Ostrava Days, Tage für Neue Musik Zurich and the Pan Music Festival Seoul.

Sonar is Spanish for "to sound". But "sonar" also describes a procedure for measuring distance under water. Sound pulses are sent into unknown space, the echo that comes back provides new insights into the characteristics of proximity and distance. The Sonar Quartett, founded in 2006, unites and determines these seemingly unrelated meanings of the term: The sensuous level of music is combined with a level of searching and discovering in as yet unexplored area. For the four young musicians, this area is the most current contemporary music.

They frequently leave the comfort of the traditional concert form and collaborate as performers as well as improvisers with artists from both serious and light music genres without reservations, blurring the line between concert and performance.

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