Brahms Prize for HfMT violin professor

The content on this page was translated automatically.

The prestigious Brahms Prize will be awarded to the Mandelring Quartet in 2026. The quartet was founded in 1983 by HfMT violin professor Sebastian Schmidt with two siblings. The Brahms-Gesellschaft Schleswig-Holstein is thus honoring one of the world's most respected string quartet ensembles, which is exemplary in its commitment to this artistic genre, according to a press release published on Friday. The award, which is endowed with 10,000 euros, will be presented on September 26 in Wesselburen (Dithmarschen district).

Mandelring Quartet
Founded by three young siblings and a viola student friend, the string quartet launched an international career after its first major competition successes, which continues unabated to this day. Their Hambach Music Festival, founded in 1997, and the concert series at the Berlin Philharmonie, launched in 2010, are further testimony to their outstanding position in the music world. The focus is always on Brahms' chamber music for strings, which the 'Mandelrings' have performed several times in cycles and recorded on CDs to great acclaim.
At the award ceremony, the Mandelring Quartet will perform two works by Johannes Brahms: the String Quartet in A minor op. 51/2 and the String Quintet in G major op. 111, in which they will be joined by violist Roland Glassl, who was himself a member of the Mandelring Quartet from 1999 to 2015.

Brahms Prize
The Brahms Prize has been awarded since 1988. The first winner was the conductor and pianist Leonard Bernstein with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. Since then, the prize has been awarded to baritone Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, clarinettist Sabine Meyer, the Thomanerchor, conductors Christoph Eschenbach and Herbert Blomstedt and, most recently, the Windsbacher Knabenchor.