Winner of the Eugéne Ysaÿe competition in Liége, Belgium and recently as „Auner Quartet - The award winning string quartet: a perfect musical match“ as first Austrian ensemble on the cover of the Performing Arts Yearbook of Europe, the viennese string quartet has firmly established itself in the international world of classical music. Founded in 2013 and appointed by Austria‘s Ministry of Foreign Affairs as cultural ambassadors, the quartet also regularly performs as part of the NASOM series in cultural forums and embassies worldwide. Praised for its „stylistic confidence and true emotion ... for all four, chamber music seems to be the essence of music per se ...“ (Radio Ö1, „Intrada“), the ensemble demonstrates „refinement and prowess to both new and established repertoire”. Following an old viennese tradition of salon concerts, the group organises a chambermusic cycle in the city of music, performing and moderating through the program in e.g. the Brahms Saal of the Vienna Musikverein, the Schubert Saal of the Vienna Konzerthaus, the Arnold Schönberg Centre, the Baroque Hall of the Vienna City Hall and the Ehrbar Hall. In season 2021/22 the cycle found a permanent home in the chapel of the emperors palace, the Hofburg.

As passionate chamber musicians the quartet strives to not only explore the extensive repertoire, but also to present their unique rhetorical voice within the music. As the studies at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna focus strongly on the mastery of the “Wiener Klang” (the Viennese Sound), as well as a sophisticated interpretation of works from the Viennese „Classical“ period; graduates Barbara, Gabriel, Konstantin and Daniel went as individual musicians through one concerted training. Sharing the same educational background they bring the viennese musical patrimony and individual emotional approach into this musical melting pot. The artists use their cultural heritage and consider it as their vocation to convey music as a spontaneous and original experience. Artistic impulses from e.g. Hatto Beyerle and Günter Pichler (Alban Berg Quartett) and Petr Prause (Talich Quartet), Alasdair Tait (Belcea Quartet), Geoffrey Nuttall and Lesley Robertson (St. Lawrence String Quartet, USA) continue to inspire; the Auner Quartet is a selected member of ECMA, the European Chamber Music Academy.

Compromised of violinists Daniel Auner, Barbara de Menezes Galante, violist Gabriel Squizzato*, and cellist Konstantin Zelenin, the ensemble is performing regularly in various venues. As strong advocates for outreach events and educational workshops, the Auner Quartett is actively searching to engage various communities in diverse ways. The quartet holds workshops in schools, making the often first approach to classical music for listeners an easy entry. In a time of shrinking audiences, the group considers it a duty to personally address new listeners. Social work, often in collaboration with the Austrian Ministry for Foreign Affairs, included masterclasses and performances for numerous youth music programs in Peru, Brazil, Belize and South Africa.

The album with Simon Reitmaier on the Clarinet - featuring Clarinet Quintets by Mozart, Reger and Leitner has been highly appraised by its critics and has been released on the „Gramola“ Label in February 2018. A portrait of the chamber music works by Johanna Doderer had be released on the „Capriccio“ Label in 2019 and a new recording with string quartets from Egon Wellesz, Alexander von Zemlinsky and Anton von Webern to be recorded for the Austrian National Bank was released on „Gramola“ in 2021.

The Auner Quartett is a partner of the Viennese string manufacturer Thomastik Infeld, working closely on improvements of their outstanding products. Daniel plays on a violin by Giovanni Battista Guadagnini, a generous loan from the collection of precious instruments of the Austrian National Bank. Also in the quartet to hear is a violin by Giovanni Paulo Maggini and a Cello by Giovanni Battista Grancino.

*The ensemble is extremely grateful to Nora Romanoff-Schwarzberg for jumping in during the last months replacing the original violist of the quartet, Nikita Gerkusov. After several projects the ensemble happily decided to continue working within the new formation with the italian violist Gabriel Squizzato.