Grieving German quartet recruits an American violinist

Six months after the tragic death of violist Friedemann Weigle, the outstanding Artemis Quartet has picked an American violinist, Anthea Kreston, to replace him. Anthea will play second violin, while Gregor Sigl moves from violin to viola.

Official bio and quotes:

Andrea Kreston, born in Chicago, studied with Felix Galimir and Ida Kavafian at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, as well as chamber music with the Vermeer Quartet and Emerson String Quartet. Anthea Kreston was a member of the Avalon Quartet – with whom she won the ARD Competition in 2000 – for seven years. In 1999, she founded the Amelia Piano Trio. She has given many concerts in the United States and Europe with both ensembles.

Cellist Eckart Runge and Anthea Kreston have known each other for twenty years. They met, as members of different ensembles, at a masterclass given by the Juliiard String Quartet. Eckart Runge: “Already then, Anthea struck me as an extraordinarily brilliant musician and someone who has a big personality. She applied for the available position, travelled to the audition from the West Coast [of the United States] and impressed us with her warm-heartedness, boundless energy and – above all – her fantastic qualities as a musician and violinist. All three of us immediately felt that, in her own way, Anthea reflects the soul of Friedemann and will bring new energy to our quartet.”

Anthea Kreston: “It is with a full heart that I join the Artemis Quartet, my favourite quartet since we were all students together at the Juilliard Quartet Seminar 20 years ago. To share a life with these tremendous souls and musicians will be the fulfilment of a dream I never anticipated could be realized.”

The Artemis Quartet’s first European Tour in its new formation starts on March 12th in Holland.