A Project for the Transmission of European Cultural History
The Gmeaux Quartett 
Gmeaux Quartett will perform Five Songs for Soprano and String Quartet op. 40 by Karl Weigl in April at the Goethe Institute in Paris and at the Britten
Theatre in London as part of the "Esther Project",
organized by the ProQuartet.
ProQuartet has joined the European project known as ESTHER, European
Strategies for Holocaust Remembrance, which is supported by the European
Commission and the Paris city hall.
The event will run from June 1,
2012 to May 31, 2014 in Germany, Great Britain, Austria, Finland and
France and will revolve around a common topic: the rediscovery and rehabilitation of musicians - composers and performers - who suffered from the consequences of the cultural policy of the Third Reich for political or racial reasons.
Weigl emigrated to the United States in 1938 together with his
second wife, Valerie (Vally) and his son. He obtained a number of important teaching posts: at the Hartt School of Music, at Brooklyn College, at the Boston Conservatory and, from 1948 on, at the Philadelphia Academy of Music. He was an important early member of ACA, which continues to publish more than 200 of his works. He died in New York in 1949.
Representing four different nations, the Gmeaux Quartett is one of the leading ensembles of its generation. During the 2010/11 season, the Quartet made their highly acclaimed debut at the Philharmonie in Berlin. Earlier this year the Quartet won 2nd Prize in both the International Franz Schubert and Modern Music Competition in Graz and the International Joseph Haydn Chamber Music Competition in Vienna. Previously the Quartet won 3rd Prize at the ARD Music Competition in 2008, as well as the coveted Audience Award. In 2007 the Quartet won 1st Prize at the Chamber Music Competition of the "Migros-Kulturprozent", were 1st Prize winners of the Basel Orchestra Society Competition and received the Mozart Prize from the city of Lucerne. More recently, the Quartet, was honored with the Swiss Ambassador's Award in London which resulted in a tour of England, Scotland and Wales.