Leonkoro Quartet Interview EN

Leonkoro Quartet

Interview

If you weren't playing in a quartet, you would probably be…

... inside the music business:

Jonathan: Hopefully a member of a great orchestra!
Amelie: Without the quartet, I would probably already be starting the classical search for a position in an orchestra and preparing for all the auditions that would come my way.
Mayu: I would probably still be a violinist ;-)
Lukas: I would like to be a rockstar.

... outside the music business:

Jonathan: There was no alternative to music for me. :-)
Amelie: A life completely outside of the music scene is very hard to imagine, but I would probably have ended up in a job that was perhaps more about manual work, a typical "9 to 5" office job would definitely not be for me!
Mayu: Shortly before studying music, I considered studying linguistics. But in hindsight, it probably wouldn't have been a good fit because I don't have the patience or the brains to sit down and write an essay...
Lukas: I would probably have been a long-term student and activist.

What experience or encounter has had a decisive impact on your career and why?

Quartet: The first major competition we took part in together was a very special moment: after months of ever stricter corona regulations, which meant that we were deprived of practically all opportunities to perform, we simply threw ourselves in at the deep end and took to the stage. Our previous concerts could be counted on one hand and we didn't really have any idea where we would stand in international comparison. Looking back, that was the moment when it turned out that all the work had paid off and we got a chance to put the quartet career at the center of our lives.

In interviews, what would you like to be asked...

Gladly more often: We will always be happy to answer questions that go into the details of everyday quartet life. In the beginning, we underestimated how much organization and bureaucratic work a quartet requires, so we think it's important to talk about these aspects as well.

Better never: Sometimes we are asked whether the quartet is our "real job" or whether we also do something else for a living. This question makes some of us grumble, as the assumption that music cannot be a recognized profession is unfortunately more widespread than we would like.

Do you have any rituals before or after a performance?

Before:

If you were to observe us over a longer period of time, you would be able to recognize smaller or larger rituals that each individual person performs before the concert, be it a certain warm-up exercise, the last cigarette before the performance, the short power nap or the thorough cleaning of the instrument. Quite often, we plan to play a scale together that matches the repertoire of the concert shortly before the performance, but we neglect this plan just as regularly.

After:

Afterwards, we're usually pretty quick to get rid of our concert clothes and pack our things - there's not really a ritual. Except for our cellist, who always neatly folds all his cleaning cloths and has already gained a reputation for taking so much time packing up that the rest of us feel like we've been back at the hotel for a long time ...

Your wish for the next five years?

Of course, we hope for many unforgettable moments on the concert stages! But also that in five years' time we can look back happily on our many debuts and tours and benefit from the experience we have gained.

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