Agate Quartet
France
Adrien Jurkovic, violin
Thomas Descamps, violin
Raphaël Pagnon, viola
Simon Iachemet, cello
Biography
Currently based in Paris, it is first their love for Berlin – its dynamic culture, rich and eclectic musical life – that brings these four passionate members of the Quatuor Agate together for the first time. These young people, native of the South of France (Marseille, Toulouse and Bordeaux), find in Berlin the ideal environment for their natural curiosity. They share an enthusiasm for bold, alternative, even underground projects and in 2016, decided to set up the Quatuor Agate to explore together their musical passions.
Their encounter with the string quartet repertoire is a decisive turning point in the life of the four musicians. They have extensive and varied musical experience (from solos to chamber music, including with the prestigious Berlin orchestras), and find in this new repertoire an infinite source of expression and inspiration. Within the quartet, they discover how their personal aspirations must be balanced with the needs of the group. Also, that working together daily transcends their own abilities and reinforces their growing desire to carry on playing together. To share this unique and wonderful repertoire, the Quatuor Agate created the Corsi Classic Festival in 2016. Based around Ajaccio, its mission is to promote chamber music in areas of the island where classical music is rarely available. Their encounter with the German musical tradition plays an equally important role in their artistic training. Having all been through the CNSMDP (Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris), they went on to study another 2 years at the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler in Berlin with Eberhard Feltz; there, their own French musical tradition is confronted with the German tradition of the musical discourse. With their artistic development in mind, the Quatuor Agate moved to Paris at the start of 2018 to study under the guidance of Mathieu Herzog, former violist with the Ebène Quartet. The quartet studied also with Luc-Marie Aguera at the Conservatoire de Paris. They join renowned chamber music academies such as Verbier Festival Academy, the Montreal International String Quartet Academy (MISQA), the Aix-en-Provence Festival Academy, Musique à Flaine and the Spring International Chamber Music Course Hanns Eisler with acclaimed teachers such as Günter Pichler, Gerhard Schulz, Valentin Erben, Sir András Schiff, Tabea Zimmerman, Christoph Poppen, the Ysaÿe, the Talich and the Vogler Quartets.
The quartet is quickly invited to perform in several international festivals and venues: The Verbier Festival, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival, Les Rencontres Musicales d’Evian, Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, Festival La Brèche, Festival di Casale Monferrato, Cini Foundation in Venice, The Hamburg International Chamber Music Festival, Les Vacances de Monsieur Haydn, Konzertverein Schwerin, Toulouse d’Eté with partners such as Frank Braley, Romain Guyot, Marc Danel, Enrico Pace, Mathieu Herzog, Gabriel Le Magadure, Pierre Fouchenneret, Florent Héau, Guillaume Bellom, Modigliani Quartet, Jerusalem Quartet, Ivan Karizna.
In 2021, the quartet will perform in many prestigious venues around the globe: France, Germany, Italy, USA.
Since 2018, The Agate Quartet is in residence at the Fondation Singer-Polignac and has been selected for taking part in Le Dimore del Quartetto project. In 2019, the quartet becomes a resident of ProQuartet and associate-artist at the Festival La Brèche. The Quatuor Agate is a prize-winner of the Verbier Festival Academy 2019 and the Irene Steels-Wilsing Competition 2020. The quartet is a «Young Classical Artists Trust» 2020 Finalist.
Adrien Jurkovic plays on a violin attributed to Giuseppe Giovanni Guarneri generously loaned by Dr Peter Hauber. Thomas Descamps plays on a Omobono Stradivari violin generously loaned by the Fondation Boubo-Music. Raphaël Pagnon plays on a Ferdinando Alberti viola generously loaned by the Fondation Boubo-Music. Simon Iachemet plays on a Giacinto Santagiuliana cello generously loaned by the Fondation Boubo-Music.
