Pacific Quartet Vienna
Yuta Takase, violin
Simon Wiener, violin
Chin-Ting Huang, viola
Sarah Weilenmann, violoncello

The four musicians of the internationally renowned Pacific Quartet Vienna (PQV), which is based in Vienna and Zurich, created their ensemble to celebrate their mutual passion for the quartet genre, generally regarded as the pinnacle of chamber music. Audiences all around the world have been thrilled by their sensitive, warm sound. They have a varied focus, regularly developing tailor-made concert programmes with an emphasis on contemporary music for performance in museums. Since it was founded, this Quartet has also engaged in an intensive exploration of the works of Viennese Classicism, but is furthermore involved in intercultural exchange programmes between Europe – Switzerland and Austria – and Asia – Japan and Taiwan, where they have made extensive tours in recent years. The high points of past concert seasons have included concerts at the Musikverein in Vienna, the Wigmore Hall in London and the Brucknerhaus in Linz, along with performances at renowned festivals such as the Styriarte (Graz), Wien Modern, the Trame Sonore Mantova Chamber Music Festival, the Haydn Festival Burgenland, the Kalkalpen Festival and the Lucerne Festival. They have also made several CD and radio recordings with the Gramola and Solo Musica labels, Swiss Radio and Television (SRF) and Ö1 in Austria. In 2015, the PQV won First Prize, the Audience Prize and the Prize for the best interpretation of a work by Joseph Haydn at the Sixth International Joseph Haydn Chamber Music Competition in Vienna. They also won the August Pickhardt Prize of the City of Basel in 2016 and the New Sound of Austrian Music Prize 2018/19 in 2017.