- Katarzyna Gluza – violin
- Paulina Marcisz – violin
- Karalina Orsik-Sauter – viola
- Dominika Szczypka – cello
Considered by many to be among the most promising young generation string quartets, the Ãtma Quartet first appeared publically as the New Music Quartet in 2016 and for the two years that followed performed under its former name. Four outstanding instrumentalists, graduates of Polish music academies, Katarzyna Gluza (violin), Paulina Marcisz (violin), Karalina Orsik-Sauter (viola) and Dominika Szczypka (cello), have been busy giving concerts at home and abroad, popularizing chamber music, particularly, works by Polish composers.
The quartet won the 1st Prize and three special awards in the 2nd Karol Szymanowski International Competition for String Quartets in Katowice (2017), an incentive award and the Bärenreiter Urtext Prize in the International Competition ‘Franz Schubert and Modern Music’ in Graz (2018), and the 3rd Prize in the 1st Karol Szymanowski International Music Competition in Katowice (2018). The musicians have also been recipients of two scholarships awarded by the Mayor of the City of Bydgoszcz. Ãtma Quartet was also awarded a scholarship by Ministry of Culture and National Heritage ‘Young Poland’ (2018), thanks to which they accomplished a CD with Polish music.
The Ãtma Quartet has performed during masterclasses taught by members of such highly acclaimed chamber ensembles as the Alban Berg Quartet, the Kuss Quartet, the Jerusalem Quartet, the Ysaÿe Quartet, the Artemis Quartet, the Cuarteto Quiroga, the Vogler Quartet, the Emerson String Quartet, the Silesian String Quartet, the Zehetmair Quartet, the Apollon Musagète Quartett, the Meccore String Quartet, the Vienna Brahms Trio, the Penderecki Piano Trio, or the Herbert Piano Trio. The quartet has also worked with Alain Meunier, Avri Levitan and Marek Moś, and participated in the Jenuesses Musicales International Chamber Music Campus (Germany) and the Chigiana International Festival and Summer Academy (Italy).
The quartet has appeared in a number of prestigious festivals abroad, such as the Davos Festival in Switzerland, the Quatuors à Bordeaux Festival and the Château de Lourmarin Summer Music Festival in France, the Zeist Music Days in Holland, or the Musethica concerts in Spain; as well as in Poland, in the Karol Szymanowski Music Days (Zakopane), the Emanations International Music Festival (Lusławice), the International Young Music Competition Winners Festival (Katowice) and the Urle Chamber Music Festival. The musicians have also performed at most of the local, Bydgoszcz-based artistic events, among which are the Old Waterworks Chamber Music Festival, the ‘Music in the Blumwe Villa’ project, the ‘Eye Never Sleeps’ International Contemporary Art Festival, the Fonomo Music & Film Festival, the ‘Arts in Gryf’ project, and the Bydgoszcz Science Festival.
Since 2018 the Ãtma Quartet has been actively participating in the Le Dimore del Quartetto project, promoting Polish music in Italy. The ensemble has also been engaged in the French ProQuartet programme, whose aim is to foster the development of chamber music in the world.
