High praise comes from a discriminating voice.  In a review written about the Artemis Quartet, the daily newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung has stated that there are many good string quartets performing.  However, among the very good quartets playing internationally, the "Artemis ensemble is the best." The reason:  "Ranging from Beethoven to Ligeti, their performances overflow with fullness of sound, delineated structure and unparalleled drama."

The Berlin-based Artemis Quartet was founded at the Lubeck Musikhochschule in 1989.  Walter Levin, the Emerson Quartet, the Julliard quartet and the Alban Berg Quartet have been and remain important teachers and mentors for the quartet.  Since 1994 the four players have performed as a professinal ensemble, quickly gaining a reputation as one of the leading ensembles of their generation.  The ensemble's international stature was established by winning First Prizes at the ARD Competition in 1996 and soon thereafter First Prize at the Premio Borciani.  Rather than pitch themselves into the tempting fast track of career success, the members instead immersed themselves in further study.  In 1998 the ensemble spent a year in residence with the Alban Berg Quartet in Vienna followed by a three month sabbatical at Berlin's Wissenschaftskolleg.  Their debut at the Berlin Philharmonie in June of 1999 marked the formal start of their career.

A new phase of the chamber group's life began in July 2007 with Gregor Sigi and Friedemann Weigle becoming members.  Their first appearances with their two new members included performances at the Salzburg Festival, the Schubertiade in Schwarzenberg, the Rheingau Musik Festival as well as Septembre Musical Montreux - Vevey.

Since 2004 the quartet's series of concerts at the Berlin Philharmonie has met with high praise from critics and audiences alike.  In addition to their busy schedule of concerts at all of the most important venues in Europe, the US, Japan, South America and Australia, and numerous appearances at international festivals, the Artemis Quartet is also committed to teaching.  One example of this vocation is their joint professorship in chamber music at Berlin's Universitat der Kunste and their guest lecturship at the "Chapelle Reine Elisabeth" in Brussels.

In recognition of the ensemble's contribution to the interpretation of Beethoven's music, the Verein des Beethoven-Hauses Bonn conferred honorary membership to the Artemis Quartet in 2003. 

This is the second appearance by the Artemis on the Houston Friends of Chamber Music series.  The first was in 2002.

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