Classical Music in Grünau: Maria Baptist & String Quartet (SongHa Choi/violin, Daniil Gonobolin/violin, Toby Cook/viola, Goeunsol Heo/cello)

Yet her musical roots run deep in classical music. While she typically weaves classical principles into jazz in her large-scale orchestral and solo programs, for this concert she takes the opposite approach: she brings the freedom and spontaneous energy of jazz directly into the world of classical chamber music.

Together with a young, international string quartet, Baptist breaks down the rigid boundaries of the written score. All five musicians share the responsibility of solo performance and improvise in a constant, lively interplay, drawing on the moment.

The program brings together Baptist’s works “9 Episodes” and “Impressions of a Journey,” which are tangibly inspired by the expressive musical languages of Béla Bartók and Dmitri Shostakovich. From sweeping arcs of tension between intimate lyricism and gripping intensity, a music of haunting beauty emerges.

For her work that transcends genres, Maria Baptist has already been nominated five times for the German Record Critics’ Award. Deutschlandfunk Kultur describes her as “one of the truly great jazz musicians from Germany,” while the U.S. magazine All About Jazz characterizes her style as “infinitely intelligent and stylish.”

This concert offers a rare opportunity to experience the musician live alongside a classical string quartet.