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DANISH STRING QUARTET RECEIVES THE LÉONIE SONNING MUSIC PRIZE 2025

Oct 08, 2024 | Sindberg Kommunikation ApS | Press release

When the prize is awarded in 2025, it will be something quite special. For the first time, the prize will not be given to just one individual but to an ensemble. The recipients are the Danish String Quartet, who, since their debut 23 years ago, have established themselves as one of the world’s leading classical ensembles.

Esben Tange, Chairman of the Board of the Léonie Sonning Music Foundation, is excited about the groundbreaking nature of this year’s recipients and explains why this quartet is being honored:

“Besides being four outstanding instrumentalists, the Danish String Quartet is a unique musical collective with international influence. With a performance style marked by great authority and sensitivity, where classical chamber music, brand new compositions, and Nordic folk music are equally integrated, they have created an original musical identity that serves as an inspiration to other musicians and unleashes musical energy beyond genres.”

The members of the Danish String Quartet say:

“We are deeply honored and amazed to receive the Léonie Sonning Music Prize 2025. We are thankful and humbled. We see it as a great recognition for us, but also for chamber music in the broadest sense. This collective discipline, where you collaborate, communicate, seek out each other and the audience. Denmark is a chamber music powerhouse, and in the Danish String Quartet, we are just a part of a large environment consisting of amateurs, chamber music societies, music schools, passionate individuals, summer courses, young talents, and the current and former generations of amazing Danish chamber music ensembles.”

The quartet is also thrilled that the prize is being awarded to en ensemble:

“This is the first time a collective has received the Léonie Sonning Music Prize. Thank you for this, and thank you for the recognition of Denmark’s chamber music heritage: A musical tradition that is more relevant today than ever before. We look forward to celebrating the prize in May and June of 2025, and we will do our best to ensure that chamber music continues to live and breathe in Denmark and across the world.”

  • There are simply two kinds of string quartets: the Danish, and the others.

    Boston Classical Review

  • "One of the best string quartets before the public today"

    Washington Post

  • "What they do know is how to be an exceptional quartet, whatever repertory they play."

    New York Times

  • “A concert that was as comprehensively rewarding as any chamber-music performance in recent memory… Do not lose track of this group: Even by today’s high standards, it offers something very special.”

    The Boston Globe

  • “They could be grounded in their tone or mystical. They allowed time to stand still, and they could assume the pose of excitingly aggressive rockers. They did it all.”

    Los Angeles Times

  • "The Nielsen seldom appears in our concert halls, but proved a brilliant, dramatic work in the Beethovenian tradition, and was projected by these players with vividness and ardour.”

    The London Times