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BIOGRAPHY
The Skazka Kwartet, founded in 2020, is a new addition to the Dutch quartet landscape. Skazka (ска́зка) means fairytale in Russian, and this reflects what the quartet aims for: telling stories. As winners of the 2022 Storioni Competition, they made their debut in a few major Dutch venues last season. This season they will perform in venues including the Concertgebouw. The four young musicians have all earned their spurs in the chamber music world and are now uniting their love for string quartet playing in the Skazka Kwartet.
Last season, the quartet appeared in venues such as TivoliVredenburg Utrecht, De Doelen Rotterdam, and at the Storioni Festival, ZOOM! Festival and Grachtenfestival. They also performed live on Radio 4 in the programme 'Spiegelzaal' (broadcast from the Concertgebouw). Other past engagements include a performance for Entrée, the Concertgebouw’s youth association and performances at the Delft Fringe and Aurora Festivals (former Peter de Grote Festival). The quartet has produced a few of their own projects, for which they received funding from Fonds Podiumkunsten and the municipality of Utrecht.
The Skazka Kwartet recently followed masterclasses with Heime Müller (former Artemis Quartett), Jonathan Brown (Cuarteto Casals) en Cibrán Sierra Vázquez (Cuarteto Quiroga).
Since 2020 they have been studying at the Dutch String Quartet Academy, following lessons with artistic leader Marc Danel, members of the Quatuor Danel and guest teachers such as Pierre Colombet, Marie Chilemme (Quatuor Ébène) and Luc-Marie Aguera (former Quatuor Ysaÿe). They also followed lessons with members of the Jerusalem Quartet (as part of the Zeist Music Days) and members of the Ruysdael Kwartet.
At the start of 2023, they were selected to join both MERITA, a European platform for young string quartets, as well as Il Dimore del Quartetto.
The quartet is grateful to the Dutch Musical Instrument Foundation (NMF) for giving on loan Dmitri’s bow and Emma’s cello.
Violinist Lena ter Schegget completed her master studies in 2020 at the Utrecht Conservatoire as a student of Chris Duindam. Previously, she studied with Gerhard Schulz in Wenen and with Sebastian Hamann in Freiburg. Lena followed masterclasses with the Jerusalem en Szymanowski quartets, and took part in Quatuor Danel's coaching programme in Tivoli Vredenburg. As an extra player, she works with orchestras such as Amsterdam Sinfonietta, LUDWIG, and the Radio Filharmonisch Orkest. www.lenaterschegget.com
Violinist Dmitri Ivanov studied with Ilona Sie Dhian Ho, Christiaan Bor and Benzion Shamir, in whose class he finished his bachelor studies at the Conservatoire of Rotterdam. He continued his studies at the Koninklijk Conservatorium Den Haag with Peter Brunt and Philippe Graffin. Between 2012 and 2021, Dmitry was a member of the Aristos Quartet, with whom he completed the string quartet master at the Dutch String Quartet Academy in 2017. He joined the Skazka Kwartet in March 2022.
Violist Lisa Eggen finished her master studies in 2019 with Nobuko Imai at the Conservatoire of Amsterdam, after having completed her bachelor with Francien Schatborn at the same school. Since September 2020 she has been professor of viola at the Tilburg Conservatory. She is an active chamber musician, for instance performing with pianist Lies Braakman as 'Duo Novelle'. She regularly performed with Asko | Schönberg, conducted by Reinbert de Leeuw, and collaborated with the DoelenKwartet.
Cellist Emma Besselaar studied in Amsterdam with Quirine Viersen and continued her studies at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama in Londen with Louise Hopkins. Upon graduating, she was appointed Guildhall Artist Fellow two years in a row. As a chamber musician, Emma performed in the Barbican Hall, St James Piccadilly (as winners of the St James Chamber Prize), and at the London Strings Festival. She works with orchestras in the Netherlands, Belgium and the UK.