Ast Quartet

Sungmoon Kim, violin
Minju Park, violin
Semin Yim, viola
Eunju Cheung, cello

The German word “Ast” means branch—to split, to divide a path into several directions. Choosing this name for the young quartet formed by Sungmoon Kim, Minju Park, Semin Yim, and Eunju Cheung is a way of celebrating the international reach of classical music and its many offshoots across countries and cultures.
Semi-finalists of the Geneva International Music Competition 2023, the ensemble joins the Vibre! residency this year and has devised a dual program for their concert on May 29.
On one side, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s quartet “The Hunt”, dedicated to Joseph Haydn like the other five works in the set, opens the concert with its fanfare-like opening theme and arpeggiated horn calls. Beneath its picturesque character, the composer weaves a lively and playful musical dialogue between the four instruments, balancing their sound with finesse.
Nearly sixty years later, the String Quartet in E minor, Op. 44 No. 2 by Felix Mendelssohn, written just after his marriage during an especially productive period, unfolds within a very different aesthetic atmosphere. Drawing on classical heritage, Mendelssohn cultivates an impetuous and expressive mood, with a distinctly Romantic intensity and virtuosity.
An ambitious program for a quartet taking flight!