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„A picture lives by companionship, expanding and quickening in the eyes of the sensitive observer. It dies by the same token.“
„The quartet, consisting of violinists Joosten Ellée and William Overcash alternating on the first desk, violist Marc Kopitzki and cellist Jakob Nierenz, unreservedly created both intimately beautiful sounds and massive outbursts [...].“
The Rothko String Quartet (RSQ), consisting of Marc Kopitzki (Viola), Jakob Nierenz (Cello), Joosten Ellée (Violin) and Skaistė Dikšaitytė (Violin), was founded in 2017 in Lüneburg. The four musicians consider it a personal mission to bring the music of marginalized composers to audiences, as well as to bring lesser-known works of classical music history to light, thereby actively expanding the canon of string quartet music.
The quartet’s collaborative spirit shapes not only its work with contemporary composers and artists from various disciplines, but also the way the members relate to one another in rehearsals. In addition to performing newly composed music, the RSQ is interested in dissolving the boundaries between (musical) genres and collaborates with producers, composers, improvisers, and visual artists. Important partners have included Mirna Bogdanovic, the Holon Trio (jazz), Sadie Weis (visual art), dOP (techno), Tian Gao (dance), Andrew Yee (composer and cellist of the Attacca Quartet), and inti figgis-vizueta (joint album “Music for Transitions,” to be released in fall 2026).
In partnership with PODIUM Esslingen, the RSQ creates innovative concert programs performed at renowned classical music festivals. The ensemble is a regular guest at the Ludwigsburger Schlossfestspiele, the Beethovenfest Bonn, the Düsseldorf Festival!, and the PODIUM Festival Esslingen, and in recent years has given successful debuts at the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, the Thüringer Bachwochen, and the Mozartfest Würzburg. In 2025, a first US tour followed, alongside further debuts at the Schlossfestspiele Ettlingen (SWR), the Festival “Fratopia” of the Alte Oper Frankfurt, and the Festival für Neue Musik Rockenhausen. In the 2026/2027 season, the RSQ will be a guest at, among others, the Festival Liedstadt at the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, the Beethovenfest Bonn, and the Konzerthaus Berlin. In addition, another US tour is planned for December 2026, with performances in Los Angeles, Minneapolis, and New York City, among other cities.
As of: July 2026
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