Elina Buksha, violin

Charlotte Chahuneau, violin

Arianna Smith, viola

Christine J. Lee, cello

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The Mona Quartet was born from a diverse group of young women from all over the world. Uniting Latvian, French, American and Korean backgrounds, they have thus created their own musical language. Founded in 2018 at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris, they began their musical journey with eminent professors such as Günter Pichler at the Escuela Superior Reina Sofia in Madrid, François Salque at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Paris, as well as receiving guidance from Luc-Marie Aguera, Mathieu Herzog and the Modigliani Quartet. It was also the meeting of artistic personalities like Éric Le Sage, Emmanuel Pahud, Paul Meyer, Abdel Rahman El Bacha, Kyril Zlotnikov on the occasion of various collaborations, which influenced their musical career. It was just the beginning of their career that pianist and composer, Abdel Rahman El Bacha, mesmerized by their musical language, dedicated his piece “Prélude à cordes” to the young quartet and invited them to perform at the Royal Theatre in Brussels, broadcasted live on Musiq3 during the Classissimo Festival.

 

The quartet has taken over the great classical concert halls of Paris on several occasions, such as the Pierre Boulez hall of the Philharmonie de Paris, the Châtelet Theater, the Cortot Hall and the Petit Palais, as well as prestigious festivals such as the Rencontres Musicales d' Evian, Salon de Provence Festival, Quatuors à Bordeaux, Heidelberger Frühling Festival, Preludes de Pont Aven, Les Vacances de Monsieur Haydn, Festival Debussy, Festival de Dinard, and the Edinburgh International Festival. During the 2021-2022 season they will make their debut at the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, Luxemburg Philharmonie and will be present at the String Quartet Biennial at the Philharmonie de Paris, Quartettissimo in Budapest, Icking Festival and many others. The quartet is laureate of the 3rd Tremplin de la Phiharmonie de Paris and was awarded the Prix du Méjan and the Orangerie de Sceaux during its participation in the Ravel Festival.

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Elina, Charlotte, Arianna and Christine are extremely curious about the various possible forms of artistic achievement. Their common passion for the string quartet repertoire but also the versatility of their international careers is what brought them together within the Mona Quartet. The transversality of artistic disciplines is the heart of the quartet. In January 2022, the quartet presented a Czech cine-concert of an animated film by Znedek Miler at the Philharmonie de Paris. They are constantly balancing the study of the established repertoire and the rediscovery of lesser-known works such as those of Germaine Tailleferre, Vitezlsava Kapralova and other forgotten female composers. Enthusiasts of the close work between composer and interpreter, they recently worked with composer Jörg Widmann on his "Jagd Quartett" on the occasion of the Heidelberg Frühling Festival 2021, as well as with Kaija Saariaho on her “Terra Memoria.” Other projects the quartet will be presenting during the season include a show around "unfinished" works with Jean-Francois Zygel, as well as a France Culture creation adapted from "The Great Gatsby" by Francis Scott Fitzgerald at the Théâtre du Châtelet, at the crossroads of jazz, classical music, pop and hip hop, set to music by Issam Krimi. In 2023, they will work with Éric Montalbetti around his quartet Harmonieuses Dissonances which will take place at the Volcan du Havre.

 

The quartet is also artist in residence at the Singer-Polignac Foundation in Paris, the Villa Musica Foundation in Germany and the Dimore Del Quartetto in Italy. Aware of the need to bring music to all audiences, including hospitals, nursing homes and those of disadvantaged backgrounds, their partnership with Proquartet and Live Music Now is also particularly close to their hearts.

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Elina, of Latvian nationality, is described by Strad Magazine as a musician with “a capacity for fantasy and storytelling”, “intensely convincing in her technical agility and individuality”. She is the winner of the 2019 Kulturkreis Gasteig Musikpreis in Munich. She trained with Augustin Dumay at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel, Christophe Poppen at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München, followed by the famous violinist Midori and Ana Chumachenko. She has performed at Wigmore Hall in London, Auditorium du Louvre in Paris, Laeiszhalle of Hamburg, Palais de Beaux Arts in Brussels, Tchaikovsky Concert Hall in Moscow and as a soloist with the orchestras I Virtuosi del Teatro alla Scala, Orchester Philharmonique Royal de Liège and many others. Elina is also curator of a project that revolves around music and perfumes.

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Charlotte, of French nationality, studied with Latica Honda-Rosenberg at the Universität der Künste Berlin and Eberhard Feltz at Hanns Eisler Berlin. She is the winner of the Villa Musica Stern 2020 prize and has been engaged for several years at the Staatskapelle Berlin under the direction of Daniel Barenboim. She performs regularly with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Orchester de Paris and as a chamber musician at European festivals such as the Open Chamber Music in Prussia Cove and Schiermonnikoog. Charlotte also holds a research master's degree in Political Arts from SciencesPo Paris led by the philosopher Bruno Latour.

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Arianna, American born, has performed at the most prestigious stages of the United States, including the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C., the Walt Disney Hall, and the Symphony Center and Harris Theater in Chicago. She received her bachelor degree at the Colburn Conservatory of Music in Los Angeles with Paul Coletti before moving to Paris to continue her studies with Jean Sulem at the National Conservatory of Music and Dance in Paris. In 2016, she spent two years as artist in residence at the Queen Elisabeth Chapel with Miguel Da Silva. She has been invited as soloist and chamber musician to such festivals as the Verbier Academy, the Perlman Music Program, the Kronberg Academy and Chamber Music, and Krzyzowa International Festival.

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Christine, of Korean nationality, has distinguished herself as one of the most versatile artists of her generation. She is the most recent winner of the Isang Yun international competition in Korea as well as a laureate of the first Queen Elisabeth International Cello Competition. She trained very young at the Curtis Institute of Music with Orlando Cole, Peter Wiley, and Carter Brey, then with Joel Krosnick at the Juilliard School. She continued her studies in Europe with Gary Hoffman at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel and Christoph Richter at the Royal Academy of Music London. She has performed at Alice Tully Hall, Carnegie Hall, Musée du Louvre, Victoria Hall, as a soloist with the Brussels Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra and as a chamber musician at the Marlboro Festival and many others. She is also recognized as an ardent defender of charitable and philanthropic causes. Committed to serving her community through music, she notably raised funds to build a mobile library for underprivileged children in North Philadelphia and is the artistic director of the "We've got your Bach" project during the first months of the pandemic.