Arete Quartet, Alumni of School of Music, Placed 2^nd at BISQC

Arete Quartet, a string quartet consisting of alumni from the School of Music, won second prize at the 15^th Banff International String Quartet Competition (BISQC) in Canada. They are the first Korean string quartet ever to receive an award at the BISQC.

In the final stage, Arete Quartet performed Benjamin Britten’s Three Divertimenti for String Quartet, Mozart’s String Quartet No. 19 in C Major, K. 465 “Dissonance,” and Janacek’s String Quartet No. 1 “Kreutzer Sonata.” The first prize went to Poiesis Quartet from the United States.

With this achievement, Arete Quartet received a cash award of CA$12,000 (approximately 1.21 million KRW) in addition to an opportunity to join a coaching and mentorship program at the Banff Centre.

Established in 1983, BISQC is an internationally renowned chamber music competition held every three years, open to string quartets whose members are under the age of 35. Many world-class ensembles have earned recognition at the BISQC, including Hagen Quartet (second placement, 1983), Amati Quartet (third placement, 1992), Miró Quartet (first placement, 1998), and Belcea Quartet (third placement, 1998).

The members of Arete Quartet are violinists Jeon Chae-ann (28) and Park Eunjoong (24), violist Jang Yoonsun (30), and cellist Park Seong-hyeon (32).

Arete Quartet has already received wide international recognition. They won five special awards along with the first prize at the 2021 Prague Spring International Music Competition. In 2022, they earned a special prize at the ARD International Music Competition in Munich. In 2023, they won first prize as well as the special prize for best interpretation at the International Mozart Competition. In 2024, they claimed first prize at the Lyon International Chamber Music Competition. Most recently, in May 2025, the Arete Quartet became the first Korean string quartet to place third at the Bordeaux International String Quartet Competition.