Esme Quartet debuts in Korea after sweeping international awards

Esme Quartet Courtesy of Sihoo Kim

By Park Ji-won

When most people in Korea think about classical music quartets, they relate to those that are composed of male musicians or a mix of the sexes. It is very rare for them to have heard of an all-female quartet. Because the harmony and experience of the musicians are key elements for a successful quartet, when the Esme Quartet ― a Germany-based ensemble formed in 2016 with four promising young Korean female string players with an average age of 29 ― began winning a series of renowned international classical competitions despite their short careers, it made headlines.

Their individual performances are so charismatic and impeccable that some even say the four sound as one. With such virtuosity, Esme won first prize at the 2018 Wigmore Hall International String Quartet Competition in London, one of the most prestigious competitions for quartets, and the first time for a Korean ensemble to win, followed by the Hans Gal Prize 2020, run by the Mainz Academy of Science and Literature. They also won the Villa Musica, also a first for a Korean group, and their most recent achievement.

Their success is a testament to their hard work. They don't rest until they are satisfied with their performances, which sometimes sees them spending more than 10 hours a day practicing together. They have also been building their careers as soloists. Three of the ensemble ― second violinist Ha Yu-na, violist Kim Ji-won and cellist Heo Yee-un ― studied at the prestigious Seoul National University and moved to Germany and France, respectively, to refine their skills while first violinist Bae Won-hee studied at the Curtis Institute of Music in the U.S., the Royal College of Music in the U.K. and is now based in Germany. They are currently studying together at the Musikhochschule Lubeck under Heime Muller.

First violinist Bae, the leader of the group, said their “chemistry” and identity as Koreans have helped them create their unprecedented career.

“We have similar backgrounds and share the same language, which helps us communicate well to come up with better storytelling for performances. Still, we have very different characteristics, but we complement each other,” Bae said during a phone interview with The Korea Times, Monday.

They spent most days of the year working, and beyond the practice room, they spend time together, having meals, and travelling simply because it is fun and they enjoy each other's company. But this also plays a certain role in building a group mentality, Bae said.

The beginnings of the quartet group were simple; they gathered to earn credits at their university. But Bae also discovered their mutual passion for chamber music and persuaded them to form a professional quartet. When Ha, who lived in Paris back then, moved to Germany on Oct. 1, 2016 to join the other members who were living near Cologne, Germany, it became their first day as the Esme Quartet.

However, the conservative classical music scene was somewhat tough for the ensemble. Every moment they challenged themselves to something new, including the London quartet competition.

“People kept saying that our group was too young for the competition….When we won the first prize at the London quartet competition, popular Korean management companies and promoters contacted us to sign a contract. But the first thing they said to us was, 'How long do you think the group will last because it is likely that you are going to disband after getting married.'.. When we performed in a school in Switzerland after the Lucerne Festival, some students said 'nihao' or 'Konnichiwa' to us. So we told them we were from Korea and you should say 'annyeong' instead.”

The indifferences droves the members to prepare perfect performances so that they can prove their gender shouldn't be an obstacle for them to continue their successful career.

“We wanted to prove that we could still perform well no matter what. So we did our best to prepare for all our performances as if we are practicing for the competition.”

Poster for Esme Quartet's recital at the Lotte Concert Hall on Tuesday Courtesy of Credia

With intense but fruitful careers in Europe, they decided to have the first recital in Korea after five years, showing their achievements to Korean audiences. They held a recital on June 9 at the Lotte Concert Hall. The quartet played Chin Un-suk's “Parametastring” for the first time in Korea since it debuted in 1994, the year of its composition.

“It is our obligation to play a living composer's music. We will present it well so that you can feel the charm of her music world, which is very new, interesting and unique,” said Bae referring to Chin's music which is considered very difficult to play.

“I hope our group will be remembered as a Korean quartet for a long time as we will continue to perform….Above all, we, four women, are very passionate about what we do and love our activities…. Many say a quartet is very difficult to understand, but I hope they can learn the charm and the depth of the musical format though us.”