Jana Kuss

Jana Kuss, Primaria of the Kuss Quartet, was born and grew up in East Berlin and recei­ved her first vio­lin les­sons at the age of six.
She stu­di­ed with Prof. Eberhard Feltz at the spe­cial music school Hanns Eisler (the “Carl-Philipp-Emanuel Bach Gymnasium”) who also beca­me later the men­tor of the quar­tet foun­ded in 1991 with Oliver Wille.
Jana Kuss was award­ed a scho­lar­ship by the Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes and stu­di­ed vio­lin with Prof. Adelina Oprean in Basel, with Prof. Thomas Brandis in Berlin and tog­e­ther with the quar­tet at the New England Conservatory Boston with Prof. Paul Katz (Cleveland Quartet).
She recei­ved other important impul­ses by Walter Levin and György Kurtág.
The suc­cessful care­er of the Kuss Quartet con­tin­ued to deve­lop as the ensem­ble won both the German Music Council Prize and the cove­ted Quartet Award “Premio Paolo Borciani” in 2002. Since then, they per­form on all important natio­nal and inter­na­tio­nal podi­ums of con­cert halls and fes­ti­vals, pas­sing on their expe­ri­ence and know­ledge in masterclasses.
Jana Kuss’s duo part­ner has been pia­nist Eric Schneider sin­ce sea­son 2013/14.
She plays a vio­lin by Carlo Ferdinando Landolfi (Milan 1756).

©Giorgia Bertazzi

Oliver Wille

Oliver Wille was born in Berlin 1975 and star­ted play­ing the vio­lin at the age of five. He stu­di­ed in Berlin and Cologne, at the Indiana University Bloomington as well as the New England Conservatory Boston. His tea­chers included Prof. Eberhard Feltz, Christoph Poppen, Mauricio Fuks, Ulf Wallin and Michelle Auclair.
With Jana Kuss, Oliver Wille is a foun­ding mem­bers of the Kuss Quartet.
He is regu­lar­ly mode­ra­ting lec­tu­re con­certs, crea­ting new con­cert for­mats, and lea­ding work­shops, for exam­p­le at the Heidelberg Spring Festival, he is wri­ting pro­gram bro­chu­res and CD book­lets as well.

Since October 2011, Oliver Wille tea­ches as a pro­fes­sor of cham­ber music at the Academy of Music in Hanover, whe­re he super­vi­ses an inter­na­tio­nal quar­tet class. The insti­tu­te is a pio­neer in the field of cham­ber music edu­ca­ti­on through its crea­ti­ve and inno­va­ti­ve projects.

He is a visi­ting pro­fes­sor at the Royal Birmingham Conservatory, England and is the direc­tor of a new quar­tet academy .
Previously, he work­ed at the University of Karlsruhe and has been tea­ching tog­e­ther with Walter Levin the Graduate Quartet Program at the Music Academy Basel. In 2013, he was sub­sti­tu­ting Prof. Mauricio Fuks at Indiana University.

Since 2013, he has been lea­ding a quar­tet mas­ter­class at the International Concert Weeks in Goslar and was the Artistic Director of the International Summer Academy Lower Saxony at the Frenswegen Monastery for 3 years.

He regu­lar­ly gives cour­ses at ProQuartet in Paris.

Oliver Wille has per­for­med in orchestras of the Deutsche Oper, the Konzerthausorchester Berlin, in the Frankfurt Frankfurt Symphony Orchestra, as well as with the Camerata Bern and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra. under con­duc­tors such as Christian Thielemann, Claudio Abbado, Daniel Harding and Andris Nelson.
In 2011 he took over the artis­tic direc­tion of the cham­ber music series in Hanover, from 2014–16 he cura­ted a quar­tet fes­ti­val “quar­tetaf­fairs” in the new hall of Frankfurt’s Holzhausenschlösschen.

Since 2016, Oliver Wille is artis­tic direc­tor of the Summer Music Festival Hitzacker. Since 2018, he is chair­man of the Board of Trustees at the Karl Klingler Foundation. The com­mit­tee of the German Music Council has also appoin­ted him as Chairman of the Advisory Board and Jury of the German Music Competition.

Es wäre viel ein­fa­cher, wenn wir uns gar nicht mögen würden.

Interview mit Merle Krafeld

VAN Magazin

William Coleman

William Coleman has made many appearan­ces as a cham­ber musi­ci­an and soloist, and as the vio­list of the acclai­med Berlin-based Kuss Quartet. His con­cert sche­du­le has included con­certs at the Salzburg and Edinburgh Festivals, as well as at the Berlin Philharmonie, Vienna Konzerthaus and Musikverein, Wigmore Hall, Theatre du Chatelet Paris, Washington Library of Congress and Carnegie Hall. William stu­di­ed with Thomas Riebl and Veronika Hagen at the University “Mozarteum” in Salzburg and with Kim Kashkashian at the New England Conservatory in Boston. During this time he also recei­ved regu­lar coa­ching from the Hungarian pia­nist Ferenc Rados.

He has per­for­med with some of the world’s finest musi­ci­ans, inclu­ding Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Christian Tetzlaff, Yuri Bashmet, Miklos Perenyi, Kim Kashkashian, Boris Pergamenschikov, Leif Ove Andsnes, Til Felner, Antje Weithaas and Clemens Hagen, as well as exten­si­ve expe­ri­ence working direct­ly with con­tem­po­ra­ry com­po­sers such as Helmut Lachenmann and György Kurtag. In 2002, William joi­n­ed the Kuss Quartet.

He has been invi­ted to give mas­ter­clas­ses world­wi­de, inclu­ding in the U.S., the Kronberg Academy, the Suntory Academy in Tokyo, as well as return visits for solo con­certs and mas­ter­clas­ses in Singapore and Australia.

The Kuss Quartet has recor­ded num­e­rous CDs for Sony/BMG, ECM and Onyx. They have also been recor­ded world­wi­de for radio and tele­vi­si­on. Most recent­ly the quar­tet broad­cast for the BBC, live from the Frick Collection in New York.

Highlights of the coming sea­son include return invi­ta­ti­ons to the major con­cert venues in Salzburg, Madrid, Florence, Stuttgart, Cologne, London, New York, Washington, Zurich and Berlin.

Since 2015 he is Professor for Viola at the Universität “Mozarteum” in Salzburg.

William Coleman plays on a Carlo Antonio Testore of 1736, once owned by the legen­da­ry vio­list Lionel Tertis, and plays exclu­si­ve­ly Evah Pirazzi Gold strings.

©Molina Visuals

Mikayel Hakhnazaryan

Cellist Mikayel Hakhnazaryan is known as a ver­sa­ti­le musi­ci­an in the world of clas­si­cal music – as a mem­ber of the Kuss Quartet, with which he is per­forming world­wi­de in all con­cert halls like the Philharmonie Berlin, Carnegie Hall New York, Wigmore Hall London, Musikverein Vienna and at fes­ti­vals as Rheingau Festival, Salzburg and Lucerne, to name a few.

Regular cham­ber music part­ners are Miklós Perényi, David Geringas, Leif Ove Andsnes, Paul Meyer, Sharon Kam, Mojca Erdmann and Avi Avital.

Born into a musi­cal fami­ly, Mikayel con­tin­ued his stu­dies after gra­dua­ti­on from the State Conservatory in Armenia with Tibor Varga and Marcio Carneiro in Sion and com­ple­ted them at the Musikakademie Basel with Prof. Ivan Monighetti.
He was deep­ly inspi­red by Steven Isserlis, atten­ding his mas­ter clas­ses num­e­rous times.

During his stu­dies in Switzerland he appeared regu­lar­ly as a soloist with the Chamber Orchestra Tibor Varga and with the Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra as well as with the National Youth Symphony Orchestra of Armenia.
At that time he was a mem­ber of the Basel String Quartet and the Zurich String Trio.

Mikayel was Principal Cello at the Basque National Orchestra, Lucerne Symphony Orchestra, Camerata Bern, Kammerorchester Basel, Gstaad Festival Orchestra, Cappella Andrea Barca, among others.
Since 2014 is Principal Cello of the Munich Chamber Orchestra and is regu­lar­ly guest at the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and their cham­ber music groups (12 Cellists/Scharoun Ensemble).
Mikayel plays on a cel­lo by Andrea Castagneri from 1735.

Jana Kuss

Jana Kuss, Primaria of the Kuss Quartet, was born and grew up in East Berlin and recei­ved her first vio­lin les­sons at the age of six.
She stu­di­ed with Prof. Eberhard Feltz at the spe­cial music school Hanns Eisler (the “Carl-Philipp-Emanuel Bach Gymnasium”) who also beca­me later the men­tor of the quar­tet foun­ded in 1991 with Oliver Wille.
Jana Kuss was award­ed a scho­lar­ship by the Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes and stu­di­ed vio­lin with Prof. Adelina Oprean in Basel, with Prof. Thomas Brandis in Berlin and tog­e­ther with the quar­tet at the New England Conservatory Boston with Prof. Paul Katz (Cleveland Quartet).
She recei­ved other important impul­ses by Walter Levin and György Kurtág.
The suc­cessful care­er of the Kuss Quartet con­tin­ued to deve­lop as the ensem­ble won both the German Music Council Prize and the cove­ted Quartet Award “Premio Paolo Borciani” in 2002. Since then, they per­form on all important natio­nal and inter­na­tio­nal podi­ums of con­cert halls and fes­ti­vals, pas­sing on their expe­ri­ence and know­ledge in masterclasses.
Jana Kuss’s duo part­ner has been pia­nist Eric Schneider sin­ce sea­son 2013/14.
She plays a vio­lin by Carlo Ferdinando Landolfi (Milan 1756).

Oliver Wille

Oliver Wille was born in Berlin 1975 and star­ted play­ing the vio­lin at the age of five. He stu­di­ed in Berlin and Cologne, at the Indiana University Bloomington as well as the New England Conservatory Boston. His tea­chers included Prof. Eberhard Feltz, Christoph Poppen, Mauricio Fuks, Ulf Wallin and Michelle Auclair.
With Jana Kuss, Oliver Wille is a foun­ding mem­bers of the Kuss Quartet.
He is regu­lar­ly mode­ra­ting lec­tu­re con­certs, crea­ting new con­cert for­mats, and lea­ding work­shops, for exam­p­le at the Heidelberg Spring Festival, he is wri­ting pro­gram bro­chu­res and CD book­lets as well.

Since October 2011, Oliver Wille tea­ches as a pro­fes­sor of cham­ber music at the Academy of Music in Hanover, whe­re he super­vi­ses an inter­na­tio­nal quar­tet class. The insti­tu­te is a pio­neer in the field of cham­ber music edu­ca­ti­on through its crea­ti­ve and inno­va­ti­ve projects.

He is a visi­ting pro­fes­sor at the Royal Birmingham Conservatory, England and is the direc­tor of a new quar­tet academy .
Previously, he work­ed at the University of Karlsruhe and has been tea­ching tog­e­ther with Walter Levin the Graduate Quartet Program at the Music Academy Basel. In 2013, he was sub­sti­tu­ting Prof. Mauricio Fuks at Indiana University.

Since 2013, he has been lea­ding a quar­tet mas­ter­class at the International Concert Weeks in Goslar and was the Artistic Director of the International Summer Academy Lower Saxony at the Frenswegen Monastery for 3 years.

He regu­lar­ly gives cour­ses at ProQuartet in Paris.

Oliver Wille has per­for­med in orchestras of the Deutsche Oper, the Konzerthausorchester Berlin, in the Frankfurt Frankfurt Symphony Orchestra, as well as with the Camerata Bern and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra. under con­duc­tors such as Christian Thielemann, Claudio Abbado, Daniel Harding and Andris Nelson.
In 2011 he took over the artis­tic direc­tion of the cham­ber music series in Hanover, from 2014–16 he cura­ted a quar­tet fes­ti­val “quar­tetaf­fairs” in the new hall of Frankfurt’s Holzhausenschlösschen.

Since 2016, Oliver Wille is artis­tic direc­tor of the Summer Music Festival Hitzacker. Since 2018, he is chair­man of the Board of Trustees at the Karl Klingler Foundation. The com­mit­tee of the German Music Council has also appoin­ted him as Chairman of the Advisory Board and Jury of the German Music Competition.

Es wäre viel ein­fa­cher, wenn wir uns gar nicht mögen würden.

Interview mit Merle Krafeld

VAN Magazin

William Coleman

William Coleman has made many appearan­ces as a cham­ber musi­ci­an and soloist, and as the vio­list of the acclai­med Berlin-based Kuss Quartet. His con­cert sche­du­le has included con­certs at the Salzburg and Edinburgh Festivals, as well as at the Berlin Philharmonie, Vienna Konzerthaus and Musikverein, Wigmore Hall, Theatre du Chatelet Paris, Washington Library of Congress and Carnegie Hall. William stu­di­ed with Thomas Riebl and Veronika Hagen at the University “Mozarteum” in Salzburg and with Kim Kashkashian at the New England Conservatory in Boston. During this time he also recei­ved regu­lar coa­ching from the Hungarian pia­nist Ferenc Rados.

He has per­for­med with some of the world’s finest musi­ci­ans, inclu­ding Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Christian Tetzlaff, Yuri Bashmet, Miklos Perenyi, Kim Kashkashian, Boris Pergamenschikov, Leif Ove Andsnes, Til Felner, Antje Weithaas and Clemens Hagen, as well as exten­si­ve expe­ri­ence working direct­ly with con­tem­po­ra­ry com­po­sers such as Helmut Lachenmann and György Kurtag. In 2002, William joi­n­ed the Kuss Quartet.

He has been invi­ted to give mas­ter­clas­ses world­wi­de, inclu­ding in the U.S., the Kronberg Academy, the Suntory Academy in Tokyo, as well as return visits for solo con­certs and mas­ter­clas­ses in Singapore and Australia.

The Kuss Quartet has recor­ded num­e­rous CDs for Sony/BMG, ECM and Onyx. They have also been recor­ded world­wi­de for radio and tele­vi­si­on. Most recent­ly the quar­tet broad­cast for the BBC, live from the Frick Collection in New York.

Highlights of the coming sea­son include return invi­ta­ti­ons to the major con­cert venues in Salzburg, Madrid, Florence, Stuttgart, Cologne, London, New York, Washington, Zurich and Berlin.

Since 2015 he is Professor for Viola at the Universität “Mozarteum” in Salzburg.

William Coleman plays on a Carlo Antonio Testore of 1736, once owned by the legen­da­ry vio­list Lionel Tertis, and plays exclu­si­ve­ly Evah Pirazzi Gold strings.

Mikayel Hakhnazaryan

Cellist Mikayel Hakhnazaryan is known as a ver­sa­ti­le musi­ci­an in the world of clas­si­cal music – as a mem­ber of the Kuss Quartet, with which he is per­forming world­wi­de in all con­cert halls like the Philharmonie Berlin, Carnegie Hall New York, Wigmore Hall London, Musikverein Vienna and at fes­ti­vals as Rheingau Festival, Salzburg and Lucerne, to name a few.

Regular cham­ber music part­ners are Miklós Perényi, David Geringas, Leif Ove Andsnes, Paul Meyer, Sharon Kam, Mojca Erdmann and Avi Avital.

Born into a musi­cal fami­ly, Mikayel con­tin­ued his stu­dies after gra­dua­ti­on from the State Conservatory in Armenia with Tibor Varga and Marcio Carneiro in Sion and com­ple­ted them at the Musikakademie Basel with Prof. Ivan Monighetti.
He was deep­ly inspi­red by Steven Isserlis, atten­ding his mas­ter clas­ses num­e­rous times.

During his stu­dies in Switzerland he appeared regu­lar­ly as a soloist with the Chamber Orchestra Tibor Varga and with the Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra as well as with the National Youth Symphony Orchestra of Armenia.
At that time he was a mem­ber of the Basel String Quartet and the Zurich String Trio.

Mikayel was Principal Cello at the Basque National Orchestra, Lucerne Symphony Orchestra, Camerata Bern, Kammerorchester Basel, Gstaad Festival Orchestra, Cappella Andrea Barca, among others.
Since 2014 is Principal Cello of the Munich Chamber Orchestra and is regu­lar­ly guest at the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and their cham­ber music groups (12 Cellists/Scharoun Ensemble).
Mikayel plays on a cel­lo by Andrea Castagneri from 1735.

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