The Polish String Quartet Berlin was founded in 2002 by Polish members of the orchestra of the Deutsche Oper Berlin. It has been playing in its current formation since 2022. After its successful debut at the Koblenz Music Days, the ensemble gained a reputation for its interpretations of contemporary Polish music. In addition to the canon of established Polish composers of the twentieth century such as Szymanowski, Bacewicz, Lutosławski, Panufnik, Baird, Tansman, Penderecki, Meyer, Stachowski, and Górecki, the Polish String Quartet dedicates itself to the works of unjustly neglected Polish composers such as Ignatz Waghalter and Józef Nowakowski. The quartet initiated a cycle at the Berlin University of the Arts which was dedicated to the Polish members of Franz Schreker's masterclass and which triggered a growing interest in the music of Jerzy Fitelberg, Karol Rathaus, and Ignace Strasfogel. The ensemble's intensive involvement with Polish music led to the founding of the European Forum of Polish Music in Berlin in 2012, whose honorary president was Krzysztof Penderecki. The Polish String Quartet Berlin took part in the rediscovery of the Polish-Ukrainian composer Józef Koffler, the most important protagonist of the Second Viennese School in Eastern and Central Europe (EDA 42 en homage Józef Koffler). The CD with the first recording of the First String Quartet by Schreker's pupil Ignace Strasfogel (EDA 43 Poland abroad) was awarded the German Record Critics' Prize in 2019. In 2024, the Polish String Quartet Berlin released first recordings of chamber music works by Johann Anton André on eda records (EDA 50).

Photo: (c) Rainer Maillard