Quatuor Zahir

An arising idea, an unexpected encounter and all of a sudden, it all becomes clear. This is the whole essence of Zahir, the Arabic for «what is apparent, obvious» or something that, once unveiled, is omnipresent in our mind.
Born in 2015, this young ensemble has been playing in many festivals, in France and throughout the world. It is though in 2017 that Zahir Quartet stands out winning the first prize of the 9th Osaka International Chamber Music Competition (Japan), earning an international recognition. They have been ever since invited to prestigious venues such as London’s Wigmore Hall, Vienna’s Konzerthaus, the Philharmonie de Paris, the Folles Journées de Nantes, Montpellier’s Festival de Radio France and Tokyo’s Toppan Hall.
The Zahir Quartet is a graduate of the Paris Conservatory, where they studied with the Quatuor Ébène and the Quintette Moraguès. Currently in a residency at the Singer-Polignac Foundation, Zahir Quartet is also the 2016 FNAPEC International Chamber Music Competition laureate. They have won the first prize at the 2020 Vienna International Music Competition and at the Berliner and Manhattan editions as well. They have been supported by pianist Jean-François Zygel since they took part in «La Boîte à Musique», a French television show. After a first CD in 2018, the Quartet is now collaborating with the Aparté label to release "L'Heure bleue" in 2024. This recording highlights the reasons that brought the ensemble together: sharing the same artistic sensibility, a sharp thoroughness and the will of renewing the musical scenery.
Like Paulo Coelho’s hero in Zahir, the four saxophonists are very committed into pushing forward the quartet genre. The musicians underline a strong curiosity and creativity performing an original repertoire, thanks to their meeting with many composers such as Bruno Mantovani, Thierry Escaich, Ichiro Nodaïra and Graciane Finzi and collaborating with a lot of artists like Félicien Brut, Jean-Charles Richard, Jorge Gonzales Buajasan, Adèle Charvet, Les chanteurs d’oiseaux...