The Ast Quartet, whose name means “branch” in German, conveys the message of extending its music to the world, much like growing branches. Formed in September 2021, the quartet is comprised of four young and passionate Korean musicians residing in Europe.
They received the special prize for the best performance of a new string quartet commissioned from Gérard Pesson at the 13th Paolo Borciani Prize, and were semifinalists in the Geneva Competition 2023. Shortly after their formation, they performed concerts at the Berlin Philharmonic, the Osaka Chamber Music Horizon (Japan), the Mozart Festival of the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler Berlin, the 50th Anniversary Summer Festival of HMTM Hannover, the Crescendo Festival of the Berlin University of the Arts, and Music in PyeongChang.
They performed as guest artists at the Sommerliche Musiktage Hitzacker 2024, the McGill International String Quartet Academy (MISQA) 2024, and Traiettorie 2024, and have been invited to perform at the String Quartet Festival in Pays de Fayence. They were also selected as Jeunesses Musicales Deutschland fellows and participated in the Hohenloher Kultursommer 2024. Additionally, the Ast Quartet was awarded the Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation scholarship, the “Startup-Musician” prize from the Börsenclub Hannover, and a scholarship from the Förderkreis der HMTMH e.V.
The Ast Quartet completed their studies at the Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover under the direction of Professor Oliver Wille, and has received extensive musical inspiration from masterclasses with Corina Belcea, the Kuss Quartet, Eberhard Feltz, Mathieu Herzog, Heime Müller, Midori, Wolfgang Redik, Philip Setzer and Tabea Zimmermann. Currently, they continue their training with Professor Günter Pichler at the Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofía in Madrid.