Mandelring Quartet plays Beethoven, Shostakovich, and Ligeti in Friends of Chamber Music concert, October 29

Now in their 40th-anniversary year, critically acclaimed group returns to Vancouver for the first time since 2016

Mandelring Quartet. Photo by Guido Werner

Friends of Chamber Music present the Mandelring Quartet on October 29 at 3 pm at the Vancouver Playhouse

GERMANY’S CRITICALLY acclaimed Mandelring Quartet is marking its 40th-anniversary year with concerts around the world. As luck would have it for local audiences, the group is returning to Vancouver in a Friends of Chamber Music show for the first time since 2016.

Violinists Sebastian Schmidt and Nanette Schmidt, violist Andreas Willwohl, and cellist Bernhard Schmidt craft a complex sound that has won them numerous prestigious competitions, including Germany’s ARD International Music Competition and Italy’s Premio Paolo Borciani.

In 1997, the group founded the annual Hambacher MusikFest, a beacon for chamber music in their hometown of Neustadt an der Weinstrasse.

The Mandelring Quartet have performed in Madrid’s Spanish Royal Palace four times, most recently this spring—the 18th-century Baroque architecture-style building, spanning 1.5 million square feet with over 1,400 rooms, is notably the largest royal palace in Europe. The group played using the royal collection of Stradivari instruments, crafted by Italian luthier Antonio Stradivari from in the late 1600s and early 1700s and praised for their high-caliber sound.

Several CD recordings have been released by the quartet, earning them the German Record Critics’ Prize and nominations for the International Classical Music Awards. Their most recent release, 2021’s Debussy & Rivier string quartets, pairs the works of two French composers—one a well-known classic, the other a passionately varied hidden gem.

The quartet is set to play three stunning string works at the Vancouver Playhouse: Dmitri Shostakovich’s String Quartet No. 1 in C Major, Opus 49, Hungarian-Austrian composer György Ligeti’s “Métamorphoses Nocturnes”, and Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 15 in A Minor, Opus 132.

Late Beethoven quartets are quintessential to any Friends of Chamber Music season, and Mandelring will deliver just that.

Featured

Emily Lyth

Emily Lyth is a Vancouver-based writer and editor who graduated from Langara College’s Journalism program. Her decade of dance training and passion for all things food-related are the foundation of her love for telling arts, culture, and community stories.

Articles

Vancouver Classical Guitar Festival showcases masters of the nylon strings at CapU, August 13 to 16

Highlights of the fest include a solo concert by acclaimed Argentine tango guitarist Máximo Diego Pujol, plus performances by a slate of B.C.–based musicians

Vancouver Youth Choir takes it outside for Music on Main’s Summer Pop-Up Concerts series

Artistic director and founder Carrie Tennant says the choir helps its young members make authentic human connections in an era when that is more challenging than ever

Vetta Chamber Music’s 2026-27 season blends tradition with a focus on the future

In his first season as the ensemble’s artistic director, violist Hung-Wei Huang is bringing back a few familiar faces and tapping into the creativity of kids from local schools

With Lachrimae, lute virtuoso Lucas Harris explores the uplifting powers of musical melancholy

The eclectic program mixes masterpieces by Renaissance composer John Dowland and Joni MItchell at Early Music Vancouver’s Summer Festival

VIFF Live announces 2026 program of film screenings, immersive concerts, and “reworlding”

The series includes appearances by Canadian and international artists, including throat-singing duo Silla, composer Kelly Moran, and experimental rock act Xiu Xiu

Early Music Vancouver artist in residence Marc Mauillon loves the challenge of 17th-century opera

Tackling the title role in Monteverdi’s Orfeo as part of EMV’s Summer Festival requires a different approach, the French singer says—and a willingness to push beyond beautiful singing

Austin Powers swings, Andrea Superstein sings at VIFF Centre on July 25

As part of VIFF Live, Juno-nominated artist will perform a set of classic Burt Bacharach material before a screening of Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery

Stir Cheat Sheet: 5 must-see acts at the Mission Folk Music Festival, July 24 to 26

Brass-band fusion, soul-stirring singer-songwriters, fiery fiddle, and more spread across the fest’s five stages on the scenic shores of the Fraser River

Music review: Main Stage highlights from Day 1 of the Vancouver Folk Music Festival

Stellar sets from Aysanabee, Hazlett, and Sahra Halgan got the 49th annual fest off to a great start, and the weather certainly didn’t hurt

Verdi, Rossini, and Puccini set to resound over Deer Lake at Opera in the Park, July 19

Conducted by Jacques Lacombe, free outdoor concert goes Italian with a team of strong soloists

Vancouver’s socially conscious Buddie on evolving its sound beyond “grunge pop”

Performing at the Eastside Arts Festival, the indie-rock band says it has no intention of being pegged as strictly a ’90s throwback

At the Vancouver Folk Music Festival, the eclectic Valerie June promises a little bit of everything

The American singer-songwriter plays rock ’n’ roll, blues, folk, gospel, and country, along with well-chosen cover versions of songs by Nick Cave, Gillian Welch, and Duran Duran

Toronto-based Nastasia Y carries on a family tradition of song and rebellion, at Mission Folk Music Festival

The Ukrainian-born performer distills influences from Slavic folk to jazz and R&B into her music, as heard on her solo debut, Kyiv Soul

Canadian singer-songwriter Aysanabee is proud to be a role model for Indigenous youth

The Vancouver Folk Music Festival performer also tells us about his kick-ass band and the pressure he has put on himself as an award-winning recording artist

Concrete Vehicles’ noise-rockers specialize in music as unique as their band’s name

Intellectual-property disputes behind it, the project formerly known as Computer plays the Burrard Stage at this year’s Khatsahlano Street Party

Modern Biology is a conduit for the music of the forest, at Indian Summer Festival on July 13

For Tarun Nayar’s performance at VanDusen Botanical Garden, the festival invites attendees to settle in picnic-style and get into a meditative headspace

Fast-rising Punjabi singer Rashmeet Kaur is keen on eclectic sonic exploration

The Indian Summer Festival performer, who has collaborated with Major Lazer and contributed to Bollywood soundtracks, has forged some creative links to Canada’s West Coast

The sounds of Star Wars and Beethoven hit the waterfront at Symphony at Sunset, July 11

Vancouver Symphony Orchestra moves its wildly popular, free outdoor concert to David Lam Park this year

Stir Cheat Sheet: Beach concerts to artisan market, 5 happenings to hit at Harrison Festival of the Arts

Hawksley Workman, plus mesmerizing cultural melds from El Balcón, Benin International Musical, and more

Vancouver’s Uncle Strut is doing its part to make guitar solos, and moustaches, cool again

Headlining the Khatsahlano Street Party’s Burrard Stage, the fast-rising band is unafraid to spice up its surf-inspired indie rock with country, funk, and Latin elements

Celebrate Canada Day through events at these July 1 events around Metro Vancouver

From Cloverdale to West Vancouver and all points in between, festivities span live music, drumming, kids’ activities, and no shortage of national pride

Early Music Vancouver concludes its 2026 Summer Festival with Vivaldi's The Four Seasons, August 7

Violinist and guest director Rachel Podger performs alongside the Pacific Baroque Orchestra

Step through the looking glass and rock out to local music at the Khatsahlano Street Party, July 11

Indie-rockers Uncle Strut, post-punk stars Concrete Vehicles, and soul powerhouse Leo D.E Johnson are among the talents hitting the Burrard Stage

Vancouver International Jazz Festival artist-in-residence Wendy Eisenberg got in touch with her 13-year-old self to craft self-titled album

The singer and guitarist makes music that veers from lushly orchestrated American to wildly experimental free-jazz improv

The Offering of Curtis Andrews puts a worldly spin on jazz at Performance Works, July 4

The Newfoundland-born, Vancouver-based percussionist and scholar brings influences from Africa and South Asia to his musical explorations

Fin’Amor takes the hurdy-gurdy into uncharted territory at the Queer Arts Festival

Composer Jeffrey Ryan, librettist James Fagan Tait, and tenor Bud Roach explore contemporary art song with the medieval era’s version of the synthesizer

Trumpet virtuoso Cuong Vu sees music as a path to reconnection in an alienated world

Acclaimed musician and educator will draw on an innovative career in collaboration when he joins local outfits Tom Wherrett Trio and Malleus Trio at the Vancouver International Jazz Festival

Singer Darynn Dean teams up with Daniel Hersog for June 25 North Shore Jazz performance

The local trumpeter leads his eponymous Jazz Orchestra in a home-field appearance featuring the rising-star Los Angeles vocalist

Early Music Vancouver's 2026 Summer Festival opens with Orfeo, July 31 and August 2

Bold production of Monteverdi’s influential opera features director Guillaume Bernardi, conductor Alexander Weimann, and singer Marc Mauillon

For Vancouver’s Missy D, music is a way to communicate, no matter what the language

The rapper and singer performs at Alliance Française Vancouver’s annual Fête de la Musique, alongside Kaya Ko, Alpha Yaya Diallo, Phantom Jungle, and many other eclectic acts