“A fantastic ensemble that’s ‘still on fire’, innovative, and hell-bent on high-quality music making.” (Enjott Schneider)

Munich’s Arcis Saxophone Quartet (Claus Hierluksch, soprano saxophone; Ricarda Fuss, alto saxophone; Edoardo Zotti, tenor saxophone; and Jure Knez, baritone saxophone) possesses a charismatic and authentic stage presence that sets audiences aflame with their spark-throwing enthusiasm and burning passion for this rare form of chamber music.

In their highly professional, exact interpretations, they explore the relationship between individual expressivity and artistic collaboration, captivating listeners with their joy for playing and emotional depth. This eagerness to communicate, along with their acute perception of one another, allows virtually “una voce” articulation. The resulting effect is far-reaching both sonically and musically, with the saxophone’s entire spectrum of colour coming brilliantly to light. After their international debut in the Great Hall of Tchaikovsky Conservatory Moscow and a concert in London’s Wigmore Hall, an invitation to play in Berlin Philharmonie in 2017 marked a new milestone in their career.

March 2013 saw the release of their first CD, Arcis Saxophon Quartett spielt Enjott Schneider, on Ambient Audio. In April 2017, their second CD Rasch was released on Genuin.

The award-winning ensemble won first prizes at the 2013 Musikwettbewerb des Kulturkreises Gasteig e.V. (Munich; in addition to the Audience Prize), at the 2013 International Music Competition Concorso Argento (Italy), and at the 2013 First Classical Music International Internet-Festival “Chance Music” (Russia). They also received a third prize at the 13th Chieri International Competition (Italy), as well as a second prize at the Chamber Music Competition of the Alice Samter Foundation Berlin in 2014. In 2015, they won a first prize at the 4th International Contest – Festival of Chamber Ensemble Performance named after T.A. Gaidamovich in Magnitogorsk (Russia) and in 2016 a first prize at the 1st Rising Stars Grand Prix 2016 – International Music Competition Berlin. The ensemble was honored with the Bavarian State Award for Arts 2016 and awarded with the Scholarship of the Theodor-Rogler-Foundation, a Scholarship of Music by the City of Munich and a Scholarship of the Erika and Georg Dietrich Foundation.

Arcis Saxophone Quartet was founded in 2009 at the University of Music and Performing Arts Munich and studied chamber music under the Artemis Quartet at the Berlin University of the Arts with additional instruction from Koryun Asatryan and Friedemann Berger in Munich. The quartet has been a member of the European Chamber Music Academy (ECMA, Prof. Hatto Beyerle, Prof. Johannes Meissl e.a.) since 2014. They are supported by scholarships from Yehudi Menuhin Live Music Now and the PE-Förderungen for Students of Music.