The Schumann Quartet has reached a stage where anything is possible, because it has let go of certainties. That includes the audience, which from one concert to the next have to be prepared for all eventualities: “A work really develops only in a live performance,” the quartet says. “That is ‘the real thing’, because we ourselves never know what will happen. On the stage, all imitation disappears, and you automatically become honest with yourself. Then you can create a bond with the audience – communicate with it in music.” In the near future, their live performances will be enriched by collaborations with artists such as Andreas Ottensamer, Kit Armstrong, Anna-Lucia Richter, Sabine Meyer, Katharina Konradi, Sharon Kam, and Alexey Stadler.

Highlights of the 2026/2027 season include appearances in renowned venues such as Wigmore Hall London, the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, the Musikverein Vienna, Bozar Brussels, and the Laeiszhalle Hamburg.

The quartet will also perform at the Tsinandali Festival with Lisa Batiashvili, the Cartagena Music Festival in Colombia, and the Ludwig van Beethoven Easter Festival in Warsaw. A US tour will follow in November 2026, with performances at the Lincoln Center in New York City and Stude Concert Hall in Houston, Texas, amongst others.

The quartet’s third album, Intermezzo (2018), featuring works by Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, Robert Schumann, and Aribert Reimann – recorded in collaboration with soprano Anna-Lucia Richter – was praised nationally and internationally, and received the 2019 Opus Klassik Award in the category of Chamber Music Recording. In 2020, the ensemble expanded its discography with Fragment, a powerful exploration of the work of one of the great masters of the string quartet: Franz Schubert. To mark the 100th anniversary of radio broadcasting, the quartet undertook a unique project: in autumn 2023, they released an album entirely dedicated to the music of the year 1923. Created in collaboration with Bayerischer Rundfunk, the much-praised recording features works by Alban Berg, Leoš Janáček, Paul Hindemith, and Aaron Copland.

The three brothers, Mark, Erik and Ken Schumann, have been playing together since early childhood. They are joined by violist Matthew McDowell, who completes the quartet. The four musicians enjoy the way they communicate without words, and although the individual personalities clearly manifest themselves, a common space arises in every musical work in a process of spiritual metamorphosis. The quartet’s openness and curiosity may be partly the result of the formative influences by teachers such as Eberhard Feltz, the Alban Berg Quartet, and partners such as Menahem Pressler.

Awards, album releases – it is always tempting to speculate on what factors have led to many people viewing the Schumann Quartet as one of the best in the world. But the four musicians themselves regard these stages more as encounters, as a confirmation of the path they have taken. “We really want to take things to extremes, to see how far the excitement and our spontaneity as a group take us,” says Ken Schumann. They charmingly sidestep any attempt to categorize their sound, approach or style, and let the concerts speak for themselves. And the critics approve: “Fire and energy. The Schumann Quartet plays staggeringly well […] without doubt one of the very best formations among today’s abundance of quartets, […] with sparkling virtuosity and a willingness to astonish” (Harald Eggebrecht in Süddeutsche Zeitung).*

Erik Schumann plays a violin by Domenico Montagnana, Venice, c. 1733, generously on loan from a private collection.

Ken Schumann plays an Italian violin from the mid-18th century, kindly made available to him privately.

Matthew McDowell plays on a viola made for him by Frédéric Chaudière in 2025.

Mark Schumann plays a cello by Giovanni & Francesco Grancino from 1680, generously loaned to him by MERITO String Instruments Trust Vienna.