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Some words about ourselves |
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- Vilmos Oláh – first violin
- Gábor Berán – second violin
- Csaba Gálfi – viola
- Ákos Takács – violoncello
The Auer String Quartet was formed in 1990 by four leading students of Budapest's Ferenc Liszt Academy of Music. Their tutors included György Kurtág, András Mihály and Sándor Devich, a founder-member of the Bartók String Quartet. The ensemble chose the name Auer in honour of the world-famous Hungarian violinist and pedagogue Leopold Auer (1845-1930).
Invited by the Royal Academy of Music in London, the ensemble attended the Amadeus String Quartet's quartet courses from 1991 to 1995, as well as those directed by the distinguished violinist György Pauk.
The Auer String Quartet has won many prizes in numerous Hungarian and international competitions, including first prize at the 1991 Leo Weiner Chamber Music Competition held at the Ferenc Liszt Music Academy in Budapest, and second prize at the Viotti Competition in Italy in 1992. In addition, the ensemble won second prize at the Evian International String Quartet Competition in France the following year, as well as the Music Critics' Special Prize at Evian for the best Mozart quartet interpretation.
The quartet's most important break-through came in 1997, when it was awarded first prize in the 7th London International String Quartet Competition, with Lord Yehudi Menuhin as jury chairman. Further recognition of the ensemble's exceptional qualities came from winning the competition's Special Audience Award and the Sydney Griller Trophy for the best interpretation of a contemporary composition.
Since then, the Auer String Quartet has established itself internationally, performing in such important venues as Wigmore Hall (London), Concertgebouw (Amsterdam), Casals Hall (Tokyo) and many others. Its festival appearances include Edinburgh, Bath, Kuhmo, Schwetzingen, Cheltenham, Prague Spring, and others. The ensemble has toured Japan, Australia, New Zealand and North Africa. It has collaborated with many distinguished guest soloists, including Miklós Perényi, Paul Meyer, Tamás Vásáry, Zoltán Kocsis, Steven Osborne and Peter Frankl. Broadcasts have taken place for the BBC, SWDR (Germany), Hungarian Radio and others.
Recordings for the Hungaroton and BMC labels have earned international acclaim, and their common Naxos CD with the Kodály Quartet of Mendelssohn Octet, Bruch Sextet was a nominee in the BBC Music Awards 2007. In that year they started the complete recordings of László Lajtha: String Quartets for Hungaroton.
In 2000 the Auer String Quartet was awarded the coveted Liszt Prize by the Hungarian government.
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Some words about ourselves 
