The Simply Quartet, with Danfeng Shen (violin), Antonia Rankersberger (violin), Xiang Lyu (viola) et Ivan Valentin Hollup Roald (cello) was founded in Shanghai in 2008. Currently based in Vienna, the quartet has been focusing on the roots of the German and Austrian string quartet repertoire for the past few years. This is reflected in the group’s recent successes at two major international competitions. At the 2017 Haydn Competition in Vienna, they were awarded First Prize in addition to the special prizes for the best interpretation of a work by Joseph Haydn, and for the best interpretation of the competition’s commissioned work. In February 2018, they won the First Prize in the International “Schubert and Modern Music” Chamber Music Competition. They have also given several concerts in the Haydn and Beethoven Houses in Vienna and in Baden, as well as in the Lower Austrian “Haydn Region”.
In addition to working on the major string quartet repertoire, the quartet is exploring new music from their member countries: China, Austria and Norway. The Simply Quartet is becoming more and more active in the chamber music scenes in Europe and China, and especially in Austria. The last seasons have included performances at venues like the Wiener Musikverein and Konzerthaus, the Berlin Konzerthaus, the Stefanie Hall in Graz, Wigmore Hall in London, Kamermuziek Souvenir in Tilburg, the Emergents Festival in Barcelona, the Casa da Musica in Portugal, the Rachmaninov Hall in Moscow and the Vatican Museum. They also played at festivals such as the Pablo Casals Festival, the Shanghai Chamber Music Festival, the Styrian Chamber Music Festival, Allegro Vivo in Lower Austria (Waldviertel) and the Ghent Festival in Belgium.
Recent years were full of success for the Simply Quartet. At the international string quartet competition “Quatuors à Bordeaux” in June 2019, the quartet was awarded the Grand Prix, which contains a three years world tour arranged by the CLB Management and Künstleragentur Vivace. In October of the same year, they claimed yet another big achievement, winning the First Prize at the Carl Nielsen International Chamber Music Competition in Copenhagen.
Simply has been selected for the 2021-2022 season of the ECHO Rising Stars series, for which they will perform at the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, the Festival Palace in Baden-Baden (Germany) and the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, among others. They will also make their debut with the Berlin and Paris Philharmonic Orchestras.
- Model ID: GLDA899597
