Vlach Quartet Prague

Biography and career

The Vlach Quartet Prague (Vlachovo kvarteto Praha) was founded in 1982 by Czech violinist Jana Vlachová, though the original Vlach Quartet dates back to 1949, when Vlachová's father, Josef Vlach, founded the first Vlach Quartet. Currently made up of Jana Vlachová (violin), Karel Stadtherr (violin), Jiří Kabát (viola) and Mikael Ericsson (cello), the Vlach Quartet Prague has received a number of prizes, including a prize for the best interpretation of a contemporary Czech composition in the Czech String Quartet Competition in Kromĕříž, in 1983; an award as the best string quartet among the European competition at the International String Quartet Competition in Portsmouth, England, in 1985; in 1991, they received the prize of the Czech Chamber Music Association; and in 1992 they received the prize of the Czech Music Fund for a CD containing string quartets by Smetana and Janáček.

The Vlach Quartet Prague performs extensively throughout Europe, and many of their performances have been broadcast on the radio and television. They have toured in the United States, New Zealand and Japan. In 2004 the Vlach Quartet Prague was Quartet-in-Residence in Schengen, Luxembourg.

The Vlach Quartet Prague focuses on the most important Czech composers: Dvořák, Smetana, Janáček Martinů, and have notably recorded all of Dvořák's string quartets for the Naxos label. Other recordings include works by Schubert, Haydn, Ferström, Kukal and many others, on the Naxos, Marco Polo, Bohemia Music and Panton labels.