Formed in Berlin in 2019, the Leonkoro Quartet has quickly established itself as one of the most compelling young ensembles on the international chamber music circuit. The quartet’s name – drawn from Esperanto words meaning “lionheart” – captures something of its character: fearless in approach, yet grounded in a serious engagement with the tradition it inhabits. The ensemble brings together violinists Jonathan Schwarz and Emiri Kakiuchi, violist Mayu Konoe and cellist Lukas Schwarz, musicians whose shared training and close musical rapport have shaped a distinctive and highly unified sound.
The quartet’s rise has been remarkably swift. In 2022 they won First Prize and nine special prizes at the Wigmore Hall International String Quartet Competition, followed soon after by First Prize and the Audience Prize at the Concours International de Quatuor à Bordeaux. They were subsequently selected for the BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists programme, a platform that has helped introduce them to audiences across Europe. Recent seasons have included debuts in major halls such as the Berlin Philharmonie, the Concertgebouw and the Konzerthaus Wien, alongside festival appearances and tours in North America.
Writing about a recent recital at Wigmore Hall, The Guardian noted their ‘vivid detail, precision and ensemble clarity’. Other reviewers noted the quartet’s ‘unity of sound’ and ‘the careful shaping of musical structure’, qualities that allow the group to bring both clarity and urgency to the repertoire they perform. Judith Weir praised their ‘elegant and refreshing stage presence’ in a recent performance at the Aldborough Festival.
In Autumn 2023, the quartet released its debut album, featuring Ravel’s String Quartet and Schumann’s 3rd quartet. On 30 January 2026, they released ‘Out of Vienna’, which examines early-20th-century Viennese modernism and was named editor’s choice by Gramophone Magazine.
This evening’s programme brings together three quartets that test the expressive possibilities of the genre in different ways. The D major Quartet, Op. 76 No. 5 by Joseph Haydn comes from the composer’s final set of quartets, written when he was already celebrated across Europe; its expansive slow movement stretches the emotional scale of the classical quartet while the finale restores Haydn’s characteristic wit. The Second String Quartet of Benjamin Britten, written for the 250th anniversary of Henry Purcell’s death, concludes with a chaconne which transforms the work into a magnificent tribute to his revered forebear. Finally, the F minor Quartet, Op. 80 by Felix Mendelssohn stands among the most intense works in the repertoire: written shortly after the death of his sister Fanny Mendelssohn, it pushes the classical quartet language towards a restless and deeply personal emotional world.
Jonathan Schwarz (violin), Emiri Kakiuchi (violin), Mayu Konoe (viola), Lukas Schwarz (cello)
Photo: © Leonkoro quartet