Lukas Hagen, violin
Rainer Schmidt, violin
Veronika Hagen, viola
Clemens Hagen, cello
“One of the finest string quartets of our time.” — The Washington Post
The Hagen Quartet has achieved an unrivaled position among the world’s leading ensembles, being hailed as “the pinnacle of musicality” (Die Presse). For nearly four decades, the Hagen Quartet has performed worldwide and built a prestigious discography of around fifty recordings. Based in Salzburg, the Hagen Quartet recently celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2021. Beyond its exceptional performances, the Quartet’s approach to ensemble playing sets it apart: the Hagen focuses solely on the music it creates, a philosophy reflected in its remarkable success.
Recent seasons have included concerts in the world’s major musical capitals, with multiple appearances at Wigmore Hall and the Cité de la Musique. The Hagen traveled to Amsterdam to open the Concertgebouw’s first biennial String Quartet Festival, toured Asia with three concerts in Tokyo, and collaborated with Sol Gabetta and Jörg Widmann. In addition, a long-awaited Brahms recording with pianist Kirill Gerstein was released by Myrios Classics.
The Hagen Quartet has toured North America regularly for decades. Recent highlights include a complete Beethoven cycle at New York’s 92Y, a Brahms program with pianist Kirill Gerstein at Duke University, and concerts in Boston, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Montreal, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C. The Quartet’s most recent recording, featuring Mozart’s String Quartets K. 387 and K. 458, received the Diapason d’Or, the Choc de Classica, and the prestigious German ECHO Klassik Award (2016).
In 2011, the Hagen Quartet celebrated its 30th anniversary with two recordings for Myrios Classics featuring works by Mozart, Webern, Beethoven, Grieg, and Brahms. That same year, the ensemble won the ECHO Klassik Award as Ensemble of the Year; in 2012, it was named an Honorary Member of the Vienna Konzerthaus. Shortly after its founding in 1981, the Hagen Quartet signed an exclusive recording contract with Deutsche Grammophon, resulting in forty-five albums over the next twenty years, spanning a wide range of repertoire and producing landmark quartet recordings.
Lukas, Veronika, and Clemens Hagen are siblings and have performed together for nearly their entire lives; Rainer Schmidt joined the group in 1987. The Hagen has collaborated regularly with renowned artists such as György Kurtág, Maurizio Pollini, Mitsuko Uchida, Sabine Meyer, Krystian Zimerman, Heinrich Schiff, Jörg Widmann, and the late Nikolaus Harnoncourt. Young musicians regard the Hagen Quartet as the archetype of tonal quality, ensemble playing, and genuine commitment to the works and composers of the genre.
As professors and mentors at the Mozarteum Salzburg and the Basel Academy of Music, as well as in international masterclasses, the members of the Quartet take pride in passing on their rich experience and traditional craftsmanship to younger colleagues.
