Armida Quartet

Martin Funda, violin 
Johanna Staemmler, violin 
Teresa Schwamm-Biskamp, viola 
Peter-Philipp Staemmler, violoncello

All four works vibrate with concentration, intensity, emotion and beauty, with the beginnings of the compositions in particular being events in themselves, which the quartet knows how to develop and process in a contrasting and breathtaking way. Mannheimer Morgen, Susanne Kaulich, April 2024

Touching, virtuoso, captivating - the Armida Quartet is one of the leading German string quartets. Founded in Berlin in 2006, the award-winning quartet has been playing in the same formation ever since and has developed a distinctive ensemble sound, a synergetic interaction on a common breath: clear and transparent, at the same time intense and powerfully flowing with extremely precise timing. The Armida Quartet's musical expertise, expressiveness and energy on stage are unique - they know how to ignite a spark in the audience.

During its current anniversary season  - the Armida Quartet will celebrate its 20th anniversary in 2026 - the quartet will once again perform at the Schubertiade Hohenems, the Konzerthaus Berlin, and in several concerts at the Heidelberger Frühling, where it will also collaborate with Igor Levit for the first time.

Their spectacular success at the 2012 ARD International Music Competition, where the quartet was awarded first prize, the audience prize and six other special prizes, marked the beginning of an exeptional career. After concerts and radio recordings as BBC New Generation Artists (2014-16) and subsequently as ECHO Rising Stars (2016/17), the musicians have made a name for themselves in the most famous chamber music halls in Europe, Asia and the USA. In addition to performances at major European festivals such as the Rheingau Music Festival, the Schwetzingen SWR Festival, the Beethovenfest Bonn and the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival, where they served as artists-in-residence in 2026, the quartet has enjoyed great success at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, the Berlin Philharmonie, and at London's Wigmore Hall, where they are regular guests.

The quartet’s artistic partners include musicians such as Kit Armstrong, Anton Gerzenberg, Julian Steckel, Benjamin Appl, Lotte Betts-Dean, Nils Mönkemeyer, Kilian Herold, and Harriet Krijgh. They shared a particularly close and long-standing relationship with Sabine Meyer, who recently retired from her international career. In addition, the ensemble maintains a close partnership with the Serbian composer Marko Nikodijević, whose first and second string quartets were premiered by it. They studied with former members of the Artemis Quartet as well as with Rainer Schmidt (Hagen Quartet) and owe important impulses to Reinhard Goebel, Alfred Brendel, Marek Janowski, and Tabea Zimmermann.

The quartet is known for its exceptional Mozart expertise: Together with G. Henle Verlag, they have collaborated on a new edition of his string quartets. The complete recording for CAvi, which was released at the same time, received rave reviews, with the quartet setting new standards for Mozart's chamber music (NDR Kultur) and leading the way for Mozart interpretation in the 21st century (Klassik Heute). The fourth album of the complete recording of Mozart's string quartets, which has been released in 2023, was awarded the Opus Klassik. In addition to this complete recording, the quartet's discography includes their debut CD with works by Bartók, Ligeti and Kurtág, released by CAvi in 2013, which immediately made it onto the best list of the German Record Prize. A recording with works by Beethoven and Shostakovich was also released by CAvi in 2016, followed by Fuga Magna with works by Scarlatti, Bach, Goldberg, Mozart and Beethoven in 2017. The quartet has also contributed to various compilations of contemporary works by Samy Moussa, Ursula Mamlok, Birke J. Bertelsmeier and Milica Djordjević, among others.

With two recordings in 2023 (CAvi), the quartet shows its late Romantic side with clarinet quintets by Max Reger and his pupil Johanna Senfter, performed with Kilian Herold, first clarinetist of the Berlin Philharmonic, as well as piano quintets by César Franck and Frank Martin with pianist Martin Klett. Both recordings have been acclaimed by the press, and the Reger-Senfter recording was longlisted by the German Record Critics.

The ensemble members teach at renowned German universities and hold masterclasses both domestically and internationally. They are also actively involved in social and educational projects. The quartet places particular importance on sustainability and climate protection: as the first chamber music ensemble, the Armida Quartet was appointed ambassador of the organization "Orchester des Wandels" (Orchestra of Change), a climate and nature conservation initiative founded by members of various professional orchestras.

The choice of the ensemble's name emphasises its passion for quartet playing: Armida refers to an opera by Joseph Haydn, the “father of the string quartet”.

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Julian Barnes’ novel “The Noise of Time” portrays the Soviet composer Dmitri Shostakovich during the years of Stalinist terror. With his reading, actor Ulrich Noethen offers the audience an impression of an artist’s life caught between conformity and resistance, fear and creativity. And where words fall silent, the music takes over: carefully selected excerpts, closely aligned with the text, bring the composer’s emotional world to life.