Attending a concert by the Quatuor Ébène is always a musical and sensual happening. In the past two decades the quartet has set standards by making familiar repertoire accessible with new depth, and by constantly seeking the exchange with the audience.
After studies with the Quatuor Ysaÿe in Paris as well as with Gábor Takács, Eberhard Feltz and György Kurtág, their unprecedented success at the 2004 ARD Music Competition caused a sensation, marking the beginning of the Quatuor Ébène’s rise to fame. In 2005, the quartet was awarded the Belmont Prize of the Forberg-Schneider Foundation, in 2007 it was the laureate of the Borletti-Buitoni Trust, and in 2019 it was the first ensemble ever to be awarded the Frankfurt Music Prize.

In addition to the traditional repertoire, the quartet also dives into other styles, as the New York Times already observed in 2009: »A String Quartet that can easily morph into a jazz band.« What began in 1999 as a distraction in the university’s practice rooms – improvising on jazz standards & pop songs – has become a trademark of Quatuor Ébène. To date, three of their albums demonstrate the ease with which they improvise on jazz standards and pop songs: »Fiction« (2010), »Brazil« (2014) and »Eternal Stories« (2017).

Quatuor Ébène’s albums with recordings of Bartók, Beethoven, Debussy, Haydn, Fauré and the Mendelssohn siblings, have received numerous awards, including Gramophone, BBC Music Magazine, and the Midem Classic Award. In 2015 & 2016 the musicians dedicated themselves to the theme of lied, collaborating with singers including Philippe Jaroussky and Matthias Goerne. Together with Antoine Tamestit, Quatuor Ébène recorded the Mozart String Quintets K. 515 and K. 516, which were released in the spring of 2023. The album has received accolades such as Choc Classica, Diapason d’Or and Gramophone of the month.

First and foremost is their recording of Beethoven’s 16 String Quartets, for which the quartet travelled across six continents between May 2019 and January 2020. With this project, the four celebrated their 20th stage anniversary, which they additionally crowned with performances of the complete String Quartet cycle in major European venues such as the Philharmonie de Paris or the Alte Oper Frankfurt. Invitations from Carnegie Hall New York, the Verbier Festival and the Vienna Konzerthaus were also on the agenda. Residencies at the Philharmonie Luxembourg (2023/24) and Radio France in Paris (2022/23 and 2024/25) further highlight the ensemble’s international acclaim.

In January 2026, The Ebènes opened the String Quartet Biennial at the Philhamonie de Paris together alongside the Belcea Quartet, and closed the event with the Orchestre Français des Jeunes performing John Adams’s »Absolut Jest«. The Quartet will present the complete Beethoven string quartet cycle in Tokyo for the 40th anniversary of Suntory Hall and will also begin Beethoven cycles at the Berlin Philharmonie, Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome and Wigmore Hall in London.

Quatuor Ebène:
Pierre Colombet violin
Gabriel Le Magadure violin
Marie Chilemme viola
Yuya Okamoto violoncello