About us

“The Quartet HANA…surprised with their communicative spontaneity and infectious joy of playing, which was immediately transmitted to the audience.” (Süddeutsche Zeitung)

The Quartett HANA (Gyurim Kwak, Fuga Miwatashi, Simon Rosier and Tzu-Shao Chao) was founded in April 2019 at the University of Music and Theatre Munich. The name of the quartet reflects the home countries of its members: “HANA” means “flower” in Japanese and “unity” in Korean.

Since 2021, the quartet has been studying with Prof. Raphaël Merlin and the Quatuor Ébène at the University of Music and Theatre Munich. Since 2025, they have also been studying with Prof. Günter Pichler at the Chamber Music Institute of the Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofía in Madrid. In 2024, they studied with Prof. Heime Müller at the University of Music Lübeck. The musicians are regularly mentored by Prof. Eberhard Feltz and Prof. Dirk Mommertz (Fauré Quartet). Among others, Prof. Oliver Wille, Prof. William Coleman (Kuss Quartet), Prof. Gerhard Schulz, and Quatuor Voce have provided the quartet with valuable insights during masterclasses.

Recent highlights include performances at the Heidelberger Frühling Streichquartettfest in 2025, Mozartfest Würzburg, the Grova Festival in Spain in 2024, and the “Les Classiques du Prieuré” Festival in France. In 2025, the quartet participated as a Senior Quartet at the McGill International String Quartet Academy (MISQA) in Canada, receiving masterclasses from the Parker Quartet, Min-Jeong Koh and Mathieu Herzog. Furthermore, the quartet has been selected as Ensemble-in-Residence at ProQuartet in Paris 2025-2027.

The HANA Quartet has earned recognition at major international competitions, most recently reaching the semifinals at both the Wigmore Hall International String Quartet Competition in London and the Bordeaux International String Quartet Competition in 2025. At the 15th Banff International String Quartet Competition in the same year, they were awarded the Christine and David Anderson Career Development Prize. Their previous awards include 2nd prize at the 2023 Geneva International Music Competition, 3rd prize at the 2023 Carl Nielsen International Chamber Music Competition in Copenhagen, the special “Förderpreis Jeunesse Musicales Deutschland” at the 2022 ARD International Music Competition, and 3rd prize at the 2020 Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy University Competition in Berlin.

The quartet has performed with many renowned artists, including Itamar Golan, Sarah McElravy, François Kieffer, Margarita Höhenrieder and Michael Endres, in concert halls such as Wigmore Hall, The Auditorium Bordeaux, Jenny Belzberg Theatre in Banff, Victoria Hall in Geneva, the Großer Saal of the Konzerthaus Berlin, Prinzregententheater in Munich, Beethoven House in Bonn, Bibliotheksaal Polling, Stadthalle Tuttlingen, Stadtsaal Kaufbeuren, Jahnhalle Geislingen and Teatro Rosalía de Castro in Spain, among others.

In 2024, the quartet received a string quartet scholarship from the CRF Foundation of the Scuola di Musica di Fiesole. They have also been supported by Yehudi Menuhin Live Music Now in Munich since 2021.