In 2022, the Quatuor Van Kuijk celebrated its tenth anniversary. The quartet has made full use of this decade to establish itself in major international concert halls and take home a range of awards, including first prize and honours for the best Beethoven and Haydn interpretations at the Wigmore Hall International Chamber Music Competition.

The four Frenchmen begin their concert here with Mozart’s “Hunting Quartet” K. 485. The nickname is not official, but the first theme seems to have reminded at least some contemporaries of a wake-up call for the hunt. Currently, the quartet is dedicating itself to projects revolving around Mendelssohn’s string quartet cycle, from which they have chosen the E minor quartet as the evening’s finale. In between, “Al Dhikrâ” can be heard. Benjamin Attahir (*1989) created the piece for the Quatuor Van Kuijk through a joint commission from the Konzerthaus Berlin and the Philharmonie de Paris. This concert marks the second performance of the piece, exactly one year to the day after its Paris premiere.