News
Our quartet colleague Swantje Tauscher is leaving the ensemble – we wish her all the best!
Fortunately, Christine Busch immediately agreed to join our quartet.
As our first major project, we are now preparing five concerts in Japan, including two with a Brahms cycle featuring all three string quartets. We are very much looking forward to this collaboration!
Further information about Christine Busch can be found on her website: www.christine-busch.de
Bio
Founded in Tokyo in 1992 and based in Stuttgart for many years, the Lotus Quartet is one of the few all-female string quartets to have performed for decades at the highest level with virtually unchanged membership. The ensemble’s distinctive spirit—marked by a synthesis of cultural influences from Japan and Germany—will now receive fresh inspiration: beginning with the 2025/26 season, Christine Busch will join the quartet. The Stuttgart-based violinist and professor has distinguished herself above all in the field of historically informed performance, with highly acclaimed recordings to her credit, including the Sonatas and Partitas of Johann Sebastian Bach. Alongside her work as concertmaster with renowned international ensembles, Busch has also been deeply dedicated to quartet playing. Since the new formation, Sachiko Kobayashi and Christine Busch will alternate in the two violin parts. The first major project in this new constellation will be a Japan tour in March 2026, featuring the three string quartets by Johannes Brahms as well as works by Mozart, Schubert, and Webern.
Concerts
14.12.25
18:00 Uhr
Tiefenbronn Musikgalerie
Mozart
Streichquintett KV516 g-Moll
Webern
Streichquartett (1905)
Mozart
Streichquintett KV515 C-Dur
2. Viola - Gerhard Voss
03/06 – 03/12/2026
Japan-Tournee
Programm A
Mozart
Streichquartett KV 499 D-Dur 'Hoffmeister'
Webern
Streichquartett (1905)
Schubert
Streichquartett D 887 G-Dur
Programm B
Brahms
Streichquartett op.51 Nr.1 c-moll
Streichquartett op.51 Nr.2 a-moll
Streichquartett op.67 B-Dur
28.06.26
20 Uhr
Metzingen SK-Forum
Mozart
Streichquartett KV 575 D-Dur 'Preußisches Nr.1"
Mendelssohn
Streichquartett op.80 f-moll
Brahms
Streichquartett op.51 Nr.2 a-moll
19.07.26
11 Uhr
Lienzingen Frauenkirche
Mozart
PreußischeQuartette
Streichquartett KV575 D-Dur
Streichquartett KV589 B-Dur
Streichquartett KV590 F-Dur
25.10.26
17 Uhr
Echterdingen Stephanuskirche
N.N.
Sachiko Kobayashi
Violin
Sachiko Kobayashi studied at Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music and with Wilhelm Melcher at the Stuttgart University of Music.
She won the third prize at the Japan Music Competition in 1993 and performed as concertmaster of the „Ensemble of Tokyo“ while still a student.
In addition to her career with the Lotus Quartet, she has been concertmaster of the Süddeutsche Kammersinfonie Bietigheim since 2008, often performing with them as soloist.
In 2017, she began teaching at the Fukuroi Chamber Music Academy in Japan.
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Sachiko Kobayashi studied at Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music and with Wilhelm Melcher at the Stuttgart University of Music. She won …
Christine Busch
Violin
Christine Busch, born in Stuttgart, grew up on the outskirts of the small town of Mössingen near Tübingen. She studied violin in Freiburg, Vienna, and Winterthur, and during this time already performed with Concentus Musicus Wien, the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, and the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra. Since then, she has been heard worldwide in concerts as both a soloist and chamber musician, equally successful on the “modern” and the Baroque violin. In recent years, she has worked regularly as concertmaster with Philippe Herreweghe and, in Stuttgart, with Kay Johannsen. In this and in a soloist role, she has also directed, among others, the Kammerakademie Potsdam, the Camerata Bern, the Philharmonic Orchestra Freiburg, and the Baroque Orchestra of Collegium Vocale Gent.
Christine Busch, born in Stuttgart, grew up on the outskirts of the small town of Mössingen near Tübingen. She studied violin in Freiburg, Vienna, and Winterthur, and during this time already performed with Concentus Musicus Wien, the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, and the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra. ...
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Tomoko Yamasaki
Viola
Tomoko Yamasaki studied at Soai University in Osaka. Upon graduation in 1990, she was appointed Principal Viola of the newly formed Century Orchestra Osaka, a precocious and highly-regarded achievement. Since leaving the orchestra for the Lotus Quartet in 1992, she has returned repeatedly as a soloist, recently performing Bartók’s Viola Concerto at the Century Orchestra’s 30th Anniversary Subscription Concert in 2019. She frequently performs solo recitals and was invited by the Hyogo Performing Arts Center Orchestra to join the Vienna Philharmonic’s First Concertmaster Folkhard Steude as soloist in 2020.
Tomoko Yamasaki studied at Soai University in Osaka. Upon graduation in 1990, she was appointed …
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Chihiro Saito
Violoncello
Chihiro Saito studied with Reine Flachot at the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music before continuing her education with Peter Buck and baroque cellist Kristin von der Goltz in Germany.
A winner of many prizes, she has become active as an increasingly noteworthy soloist on both modern and baroque cello.
In 2011, solo recitals in Tokyo and Osaka titled 'The Evolution of the Violoncello' brought Ms. Saito increased attention and acclaim as a Japanese cellist active in Europe. Additionally, she is increasingly sought after as a bass continuo player.
Chihiro Saito studied with Reine Flachot at the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music before continuing her education with Peter Buck and …
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Members
Music
Mendelssohn Streichquartett op.80 3. Satz aus dem Live Konzert / Lotus Quartett, Stuttgart
Mendelssohn Streichquartett op.80 3. Satz aus dem Live Konzert / Lotus Quartett, Stuttgart
Verdi Streichquartett 1. Satz / Lotus Quartett, Stuttgart
Tchaikovsky Andante Cantabile / Lotus Quartett, Stuttgart
CDs
„We few, we happy few,
we band of brothers (sisters)”
William Shakespeare
Repertoire
Streichquartette
Leos Janacek
Streichquartett Nr. 1 „Kreutzersonate"
Streichquartett Nr. 2 „Intime Briefe“
Alexander Glasunow
Fünf Noveletten op. 15
Igor Strawinsky
Drei Stücke für Streichquartett
Giuseppe Verdi
Streichquartett e-Moll
Dimitri Schostakowitsch
Streichquartett Nr.6 op.101 G-Dur
Streichquartett Nr.8 op.110 c-moll
Streichquartett Nr.9 op.117 Es-Dur
Streichquartett Nr.14 op.142 Fis-Dur
Niccolo Paganini
Grand Quatuor E-Dur
Gaetano Donizetti
Streichquartett Nr. 17 D-Dur
Gioaccino Rossini
Streichquartett Nr. 2 A-Dur
Peter Ruzicka
...Fragment... Fünf Epigramme
Krzysztof Penderecki
Streichquartett Nr. 2 (1968)
Luciano Berio
Glosse per Quartetto d’archi
Akio Yashiro
Streichquartett (1955)
Toru Takemitsu
Landscape für Streichquartett (1960)
Akira Miyoshi
Streichquartett Nr.3 „Constellation
in Black“ (1992)
Akira Nishimura
Streichquartett Nr.2 „Pulses of Light“
(1992)
Joseph Haydn
op.20 Nr.2 C-Dur
op.20 Nr.4 D-Dur
op.50 Nr.6 D-Dur „Froschquartett“
op.64 Nr.5 D-Dur „Lerchenquartett“
op.74 Nr.2 F-Dur
op.74 Nr.3 g-moll „Reiterquartett“
op.76 Nr.1 G-Dur
op.76 Nr.2 d-moll "Quintenquartett"
op.76 Nr.3 C-Dur „Kaiserquartett“
op.76 Nr.4 B-Dur „Sonnenaufgang“
op.77 Nr.1 G-Dur
op.77 Nr.2 F-Dur
Ludwig van Beethoven
sämtliche Streichquartette
Franz Schubert
D 32 C-Dur
D 36 B-Dur
D 46 C-Dur
D 74 D-Dur
D 87 Es-Dur
D 112 B-Dur
D 353 E-Dur
D 703 c-moll „Quartettsatz“
D 804 a-moll „Rosamunde“
D 810 d-moll „Der Tod und
das Mädchen“
D 887 G-Dur
Max Reger
Streichquartett d-Moll op. 74
Richard Strauß
Streichquartett A-Dur op. 2
Anton Webern
Langsamer Satz (1905)
Streichquartett (1905)
5 Sätze für Streichquartett op.5
6 Bagatellen für Streichquartett op.9
Rondo für Streichquartett (ca. 1906)
Claude Debussy
Streichquartett op. 10
Bela Bartok
sämtliche Streichquartette
Antonin Dvorak
Streichquartett F-Dur „Amerikanisches“
Fanny Mendelssohn
Streichquartett Es-Dur
Pjotr Iljitsch Tschaikowsky
Streichquartett D-Dur op. 11 Nr. 1
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
KV 155 D-Dur
KV 156 G-Dur
KV 157 C-Dur
KV 173 d-moll
KV 387 G-Dur
KV 421 d-moll
KV 428 Es-Dur
KV 458 B-Dur „Jagdquartett“
KV 464 A-Dur
KV 465 C-Dur „Dissonanzenquartett“
KV 499 D-Dur „Hoffmeisterquartett"
KV 575 D-Dur „Preussisches Nr.1“
KV 589 B-Dur „Preussisches Nr.2“
KV 590 F-Dur „Preussisches Nr.3“
Johann Baptist Vanhal
Streichquartett G-Dur (1780)
Streichquartett c-moll (1769)
Streichquartett A-Dur (1785)
Streichquartett Es-Dur (1786)
Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy
Streichquartett Es-Dur op. 12
Streichquartett a-Moll op. 13
Streichquartett D-Dur op. 44 Nr.1
Streichquartett e-Moll op. 44 Nr.2
Streichquartett Es-Dur op. 44 Nr.3
Streichquartett f-Moll op. post. 80
4 Stücke für Streichquartett op. 81
Hugo Wolf
Streichquartett d-Moll
talienische Serenade
August Halm
Streichquartett A-Dur
Streichquartett g-Moll
Arnold Schönberg
Streichquartett Nr. 2
Helmut Lachenmann
Streichquartett Nr.2 „Reigen seliger
Geister“ (1989)
Maurice Ravel
Streichquartett F-Dur
Henri Dutilleux
Streichquartett „Ainsi la Nuit“
Matthias Düe
Streichquartette
Jörg Widmann
Streichquartett Nr.2
— „Choralquartett“ (2003)
Streichquartett Nr.5 mit Sopran
— „Versuch über die Fuge“(2005)
Bedrich Smetana
Streichquartett Nr. 1 e-moll
„Aus meinem Leben“
Toshio Hosokawa
Landscape I fuer Streichquartett (1992)
Blossoming fuer Streichquartett (2007)
Lisa Streich
Sternenstill (2022)
(Engel…) noch Tastend (2015)
Giaccomo Puccini
Crisantemi
Robert Schumann
sämtliche Streichquartette
Ottorino Respighi
Antiche Danze ed Arie per Liuto No. 3
Johannes Brahms
sämtliche Streichquartette
Quartette und Quintette mit Klavier
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Klavierquartett Nr.1 g-Moll KV 478
Klavierquartett Nr.2 Es-Dur KV 493
Robert Schumann
Klavierquintett Es-Dur op. 44
Ernest Chausson
Konzert für Klavier, Violine und Streichquartett D-Dur op. 21
Franz Schubert
Klavierquintett A-Dur D 667 „Forellenquintett“
Antonin Dvorak
Klavierquintett A-Dur op. 81
Gabriel Fauré
Klavierquintett Nr. 2 c-Moll op. 115
Dimitri Schostakowitsch
Klavierquintett g-Moll op. 57
Johannes Brahms
Klavierquintett f-Moll op.34
César Franck
Klavierquintett f-Moll op. 14
Quartette und Quintette mit Viola
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Sämtliche Streichquintette
Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy
Streichquintett A-Dur op. 18
Johannes Brahms
Streichquintett G-Dur op. 111
Anton Bruckner
Streichquintett F-Dur
Quartette und Quintette mit Violoncello
Luigi Boccherini
Streichquintett op.11-5 E-Dur
Anton Wranitzky
Streichquintett op. 8 Nr. 2
Ludwig van Beethoven
Streichquintett nach der „Kreutzersonate“ op.47
Franz Schubert
Streichquintett C-Dur D 956
Quartette und Quintette mit Kontrabaß
Antonin Dvorak
Streichquintett G-Dur op. 77
Quartette und Quintette mit Klarinette
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Klarinettenquintett A-Dur KV 581
Carl Maria von Weber
Klarinettenquintett B-Dur op. 34
Max Reger
Klarinettenquintett A-Dur op. 146
Johannes Brahms
Klarinettenquintett h-Moll op. 115
Toshio Hosokawa
Klarinettenquintett „Herbstlied“
Quartette und Quintette mit Oboe
Antonin Reicha
Quintett F-Dur op. 107
Quartette und Quintette mit Harfe
André Caplet
Conte fantastique
E. T. A. Hoffmann
Harfenquintett c-Moll
Toshio Hosokawa
Landscape 2
Quartette und Quintette mit Shô
Toshio Hosokawa
Landscape 5
Quartette und Quintette mit Orchester
Louis Spohr
Konzert für Streichquartett und Orchester op. 131
Karl Amadeus Hartmann
Kammerkonzert für Klarinette, Streichquartett
und Streichorchester
Quartette und Quintette mit sonstiger Besetzung
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Divertimento Es-Dur f. Vl, Va, Vc KV 563
Oboenquartett F-Dur KV 370
Flötenquartett D-Dur KV 285
Ludwig van Beethoven
Streichtrio op. 9, Nr. 1-3
Franz Schubert
Streichtrio B-Dur D 471
Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy
Oktett Es-Dur op. 20
Benjamin Britten
Phantasy op. 2 für Oboe, Vl, Va und Vc
Arnold Schönberg
Streichsextett „Verklärte Nacht“
Pjotr Iljitsch Tschaikowsky
Streichsextett „Souvenir de Florence“ op. 70
