Page 100 - Media Coverage Book - 75th Aldeburgh Festival 2024

Beethoven’s Op. 59 No.3. Now, three decades on, the Henschel Quartet will revisit this

piece at their concert this summer.

Monika Henschel, the group’s founding violist, said: ‘Aldeburgh holds a special place
in the Henschel Quartet’s story. It gave us a wonderful start and opened so many
doors. We came to Aldeburgh because of our studies with the Amadeus Quartet… We

also received coaching at Aldeburgh from the violinist Hugh Maquire, who was a
truly special gentleman. So it was already like a dream for us when the BBC producer
Edward Blakeman showed up on his motorbike, came to our concert of late
Beethoven at the Aldeburgh Cinema and asked us if we’d like to play at the Proms!
We’re so pleased to be going back to where it all began for the Henschel Quartet’.

The quartet came together in May 1994 when cellist Mathias Beyer-Karlshøj joined
Monika Henschel and her siblings Christoph and Markus Henschel (both violinists).
Christoph, Monika and Mathias have been members of the quartet since its founding,
and Daniel Bell now occupies its second violin chair. The group’s Aldeburgh debut
led to a residency at the Tanglewood Festival in 1995 and prize-winning

performances at the Evian, Banff and Salzburg string quartet competitions.

Championing the legacy of Freda Swain, whose work will feature in the Henschel
Quartet’s upcoming Aldeburgh Festival concert, is part of an ongoing project for the
group which will see them make the world premiere recording of her ‘Norfolk’ String

Quartet next year.

Monika commented: ‘Freda’s wonderful music took us completely by surprise. She’s
a major composer, just waiting to be rediscovered… It’s nice to look back on thirty
years of the Henschel Quartet but so much more important that we can serve Freda’s
cause in future. She deserves to be visible to the widest possible audience.’