Christos Fountos & Simply Quartett

PROGRAM
César Franck (1822–1890): Quintet in F minor for Piano and Strings

Maurice Ravel (1875–1937): Gaspard de la nuit

Olivier Messiaen (1908–1992): Vingt Regards sur l’Enfant Jésus (Noël)


Christos Fountos was awarded First Prize (Best Interpretation) in the category “Chamber Music” and Third Prize in the piano competition at the 65th International Piano Competition “F. Busoni” in Bolzano.

He began piano studies at the age of five and made his debut as a soloist with the Cyprus Symphony Orchestra at seventeen. One year later, he moved to London for further piano studies, where he graduated with distinction, receiving a Bachelor of Music, a Master of Music, and an Artist Diploma, all with highest honors and numerous awards, studying on a full scholarship. Since then, he has pursued an active career as a soloist, recently performing piano concertos by Rachmaninoff, Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev, Ravel, and others. At the same time, he maintains a vibrant concert career as pianist of the Waldstein Trio, which has appeared in the Brahms-Saal of the Vienna Musikverein, at the Beethoven-Haus in Bonn, and at other venues across Europe. He is currently a Junior Fellow at the Trinity Laban Conservatoire, a Silver Medal recipient and Young Artist of the Musicians’ Company of the City of London.


SIMPLY QUARTET:
Danfeng Shen violin
Antonia Rankersberger violin
Xiang Lyu viola
Ivan Valentin violoncello

The current formation of the Simply Quartet was established during the ensemble’s studies at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, where the four musicians worked closely with their principal mentor Johannes Meissl. The quartet was originally founded in Shanghai, with Jensen Horn-Sin Lam accompanying the ensemble from its very beginnings. Other important mentors include Hatto Beyerle and Patrick Jüdt (European Chamber Music Academy/ECMA) as well as Günter Pichler and Gerhard Schulz of the Alban Berg Quartet.
The Simply Quartet has been awarded four First Prizes at prestigious international competitions: the Carl Nielsen International Chamber Music Competition (2019), Quatuor à Bordeaux (2019), the International Chamber Music Competition Franz Schubert and Modern Music (2018), and the 7th International Joseph Haydn Chamber Music Competition (2017). In the 2021/22 season, the ensemble was selected for the ECHO Rising Stars series, leading to debuts in Europe’s most important concert halls. Today, the quartet appears regularly at the Wigmore Hall, the Philharmonie Luxembourg, the Vienna Konzerthaus, the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, BOZAR Brussels, and the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, as well as at renowned festivals such as the Schubertiade Schwarzenberg. The ensemble has also toured extensively in Colombia and China. In the current season, the Simply Quartet performs at the Berliner Philharmonie, Wigmore Hall London, Flagey Brussels, Laeiszhalle Hamburg, and the Louvre Paris. In addition, the quartet will begin its guest professorship in string quartet at the Zhejiang Conservatory of Music (ZJCM) in autumn 2024.