‘We want to learn everything’ - Leonkoro Quartet

After the Leonkoro Quartet’s procession of prizes and awards in 2022, its players might be forgiven for seeming to be a little carried away by the speed of their success. In the space of nine months, the group took first prize at major quartet competitions in London and Bordeaux, received richly endowed awards from the Jürgen Ponto Foundation and the Merito String Instruments Trust, joined the BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists scheme and signed with Impresariat Simmenauer, the German management agency specialising in string quartets. But when I meet the Berlin-based foursome in London in July, they are level-headed, pragmatic and determined in their focus. ‘Winning competitions is one thing,’ says cellist Lukas Schwarz. ‘Now comes the hard part. Every day we have to commit again to what we’re doing.’…