All-female Korean string quartet on defying the doubters, and becoming the Blackpink of classical music
- As the Esmé Quartet prepare for their Hong Kong debut, the leader of the group talks about defying the doubters as women from Asia, and the group’s tight bond
- Formed seven years ago when its members were studying in Germany, the quartet, having won major international prizes, is focused on becoming more original
For their Covid-delayed debut in Hong Kong, the award-winning Esmé Quartet will begin with a joke – or rather, “The Joke”, as Haydn’s String Quartet in E-flat Major is known.
The four Korean-born female musicians who make up the quartet are eager to bring lightness and joy to the city during this year’s Hong Kong Arts Festival, the first since the relaxation of Covid-19 restrictions.
Their recital on February 28 will be followed by a performance on March 4 with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra and two Hong Kong choirs called “Voices of Hope and Togetherness”, when they will play the American contemporary composer John Adams’ Absolute Jest. They will also provide the live music for February 24’s theatre performance The Book of Water.
Don’t get the Esmé Quartet wrong – the Germany-based foursome are keen to show Hong Kong audiences that they are capable of playing the most challenging music after years of gruelling training, their leader says.
“Many audiences in Europe still seem to be surprised that performances by ‘four Asian women’ could be this powerful,” first violinist Bae Won-hee tells the Post.
