The Arete Quartet, one of South Korea's most promising young chamber music ensembles, has released their debut album featuring an unconventional repertoire that showcases their deep connection to Czech classical music. The six-year-old string quartet chose to record works by Czech composers Leoš Janáček and Josef Suk rather than the traditional Mozart-Beethoven repertoire typically expected from debut albums.
The ensemble's affinity for Czech music stems from a pivotal moment at the 2021 Prague Spring International Music Competition, one of the world's most prestigious chamber music contests. The quartet, consisting of violinists Jeon Chae-ann and Park Eun-joong, violist Jang Yoon-sun, and cellist Park Seong-hyeon, performed Janáček's String Quartet No. 1 "Kreutzer Sonata" in the final round and became the first Korean ensemble to win the competition. "The judges mentioned Janáček, saying that our interpretation is very refreshing and convincing," cellist Park Seong-hyeon recalled during a press conference on November 24.
The debut album, released this month, features Janáček's String Quartet No. 2 "Intimate Letters" and Suk's "Meditation on the Old Czech Chorale St. Wenceslas, Op. 35a." The Janáček piece was performed as part of Korea's first complete Janáček quartet cycle, presented in four concerts that concluded Saturday at Tongyeong Concert Hall in South Gyeongsang Province. Josef Suk, who was both a student and later son-in-law of Antonín Dvořák, is considered a central figure in the Czech musical tradition.
"Suk's music may not be widely known, but he is a representative composer of the Czech Republic. Among his works, there is a piece titled 'Meditation on the Old Czech Chorale' that we felt was too beautiful for only us to know," explained second violinist and youngest member Park Eun-joong. The quartet believes that Czech repertoire offers a raw emotional intensity and vivid nationalism that has been rarely explored in Korea's chamber music scene.
This distinctive artistic direction has already distinguished the Arete Quartet in Korea's classical music landscape. This year, the ensemble achieved a significant milestone by becoming the first quartet to be named Artist-in-Residence at Kumho Art Hall Yonsei, an appointment that underscores the institution's growing recognition of chamber music's artistic and cultural value. According to cellist Park Seong-hyeon, the appointment has instilled in the members a heightened sense of responsibility, as though they were representing the genre on a national stage.
Despite their success, the quartet members acknowledge the structural challenges facing chamber music in Korea. "We work with responsibility, and even though our debut has been successful, we constantly confront reality. We want to play to sold-out halls and share great music, but we are still figuring out how to reach audiences," Park reflected candidly during the press conference.
Formed in 2019, the Arete Quartet has rapidly gained international recognition through their impressive competition victories. Following their 2021 Prague Spring triumph, they won first prize at the Mozart International Competition in 2023 and the Lyon International Chamber Music Competition in 2024. In 2025, the quartet captured third prize at the Bordeaux International String Quartet Competition and became the first Korean ensemble to reach the finals and win a prize at the Banff International String Quartet Competition.
The cellist explained that the quartet has strategically participated in numerous competitions as a way to measure their artistic growth and determine their standing in the international chamber music world. "Since artistic growth is difficult to measure, competitions have served as a practical way for them to check their progress," he noted, emphasizing that without clear markers or standards, competitions provide essential benchmarks.
The debut album represents more than just a collection of recordings for the quartet members – they view it as a foundation and database that future listeners and musicians can reference. "If there is any way for the string quartet genre to grow and develop, even a little, I believe it begins with creating a database," Park Seong-hyeon stated.
The album's distribution through Platoon, Apple's music distribution subsidiary, marks another historic first as the company's inaugural physical classical album release. The quartet sees this collaboration as symbolic of chamber music's evolving presence in the digital era and the changing landscape of classical music consumption.
"The times are changing so quickly. We wondered whether Mozart and Beethoven alone could continue to define classical music. While those composers remain essential, new music is constantly emerging and the platforms through which audiences encounter it are evolving just as quickly," the cellist observed, reflecting on the quartet's mission to expand the boundaries of classical repertoire while adapting to modern distribution methods.
