Quatuor Hermès

The Hermès Quartet, named after the famous messenger of Greek mythology, draws its musical strength from its role as a bridge between the composer’s text and the audience’s sensitivity. The musicians also shape this identity through their travels to the four corners of the globe. Carnegie Hall in New York, the Forbidden City in Beijing, and Wigmore Hall in London are among the venues that have left the deepest impression on them.

The quartet is also a regular presence at major festivals such as Les Folles Journées in Nantes and Tokyo, the Radio-France Festival in Montpellier, the Easter Festival and the Août Musical in Deauville, La Roque d’Anthéron, the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival, the Mantova Chamber Music Festival, the Printemps des Alizés in Morocco, the Wonderfeel Festival, and others.

The group’s original formation dates back to 2008, within the walls of the CNSMD in Lyon, where they studied with members of the Ravel Quartet. They later refined their craft with distinguished figures such as the Ysaÿe Quartet, the Artemis Quartet, Eberhard Feltz, and later Alfred Brendel—an immense source of inspiration with whom the members still work regularly today. Open to all repertoires, they frequently share the stage with eminent musicians such as Yo-Yo Ma, Nicholas Angelich, Gregor Sigl, Pavel Kolesnikov, Kim Kashkashian, Anne Gastinel, as well as the Ébène and Auryn Quartets. Prizewinners of numerous first awards, notably at the Geneva Competition and the Young Concert Artists Auditions in New York, they are also supported by the Banque Populaire Foundation.

The quartet was in residence at the Queen Elisabeth Chapel in Brussels from 2012 to 2016 and has been an associated quartet at the Singer-Polignac Foundation in Paris since 2019. Their close and privileged collaboration with the La Dolce Volta label has led to a complete recording of Schumann’s string quartets, as well as an album devoted to Ravel, Debussy, and Dutilleux—both of which have received multiple awards in the press.

Their most recent recording of Schubert’s quartets Rosamunde and Death and the Maiden also received the Choc Classicaaward, as well as a 2022 Radio Classique Trophy.

Since 2018, the quartet has broadened its musical horizons, collaborating with accordionist Félicien Brut and double bassist Édouard Macarez, with whom they created Le Pari des Bretelles. In 2019, they released their first recording for the Mirare label.

Yan Levionnois plays a 1703 David Tecchler cello, generously loaned by private patrons.