Biography
About Javus
Our Story
Hello and welcome to our website! We are the Javus Quartet, consisting of Marie, Alex, Marvin, and Oscar.
Marie, Alex, and Oscar are all Salzburg natives and have known each other since school. After gaining our first chamber music experiences in various ensembles, we eventually came together as a quartet. In 2023, we "imported" Marvin from eastern Germany. From the very beginning, we have been guided as an ensemble by Lukas Hagen—Marie and Alex’s professor at the Mozarteum and Oscar’s father—who has had the greatest influence on our sound. A key moment for our quartet was a course in Basel with Eberhard Feltz in 2017. He worked with us for hours on a Shostakovich quartet, opening up an entirely new world for us. As passionate chamber musicians, we have the great privilege of engaging daily with some of the most significant works of the genre, delving deep into the core of the music.
Since Salzburg eventually felt a bit too small, we decided in 2021 to make Vienna our new home, where we now work with Johannes Meissl. Most importantly, we love standing on stage together and sharing our passion for chamber music.
Biography
The Salzburg-based Javus Quartet consists of violinists Marie-Therese Schwöllinger and Alexandra Moser, violist Marvin Stark and cellist Oscar Hagen.
The four young musicians had been playing together in various formations for many years before founding the Javus Quartet in 2016. Their artistic development has been significantly influenced by Lukas Hagen, the first violinist of the Hagen Quartet. Currently, the ensemble studies with Johannes Meissl (Artis Quartet) at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, as well as with Gregor Siegl (Artemis Quartet) at the Berlin University of the Arts. They also receive inspiration through collaborations with some of the world’s leading chamber music professors, including Eberhard Feltz, Hatto Beyerle, Gerhard Schulz, Valentin Erben, Rainer Schmidt, and Thomas Adès. Their extensive concert activity, both in Austria and abroad, has taken them to renowned venues such as the Vienna Musikverein, Konzerthaus Vienna, Konzerthaus Blaibach, and the Mozarteum Foundation Salzburg. They have also performed at prestigious festivals, including the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival and the Mozart Week in Salzburg.
The quartet has collaborated with esteemed chamber musicians such as Valentin Erben of the Alban Berg Quartet, Jean and Agnes Sulem, Matthias Schorn, and Pauline Sachse. In recognition of their artistic achievements, they were awarded the Jürgen Ponto Foundation Music Prize in 2024. Other accolades include the Hans Gál Prize, the Musica Juventutis Prize, and the Zukunftsklang Award Stuttgart in 2022, as well as the Audience Prize at the Irene Steels Wilsing Competition during the Heidelberg Spring Festival in 2020.
Marie-Therese Schwöllinger
The Austrian violinist Marie-Therese Schwöllinger began her musical education at the age of four. She studied with Lukas Hagen at the University Mozarteum Salzburg, with Stephan Picard at the Hanns Eisler University of Music in Berlin, and with Tobias Feldmann at the University of Music and Theatre Leipzig.
In 2012, Marie-Therese won first place at the Ars Nova Competition in Trieste and was awarded the Primo Premio Assoluto. She served as concertmaster in the Salzburg State Youth Orchestra and was a member of the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra and the European Philharmonic of Switzerland for an extended period.
For many years, Marie-Therese has dedicated herself to chamber music, finding her greatest inspiration in collaborative performance. She has received significant (chamber) musical influences from Eberhard Feltz, Hatto Beyerle, the Hagen Quartet, Thomas Adès, and Leonidas Kavakos.
As a sought-after chamber musician on the international stage, she has performed with esteemed artists such as Lukas Hagen, Clemens Hagen, Veronika Hagen (Hagen Quartet), Herbert Schuch, Jean Sulem, Valentin Erben (Alban Berg Quartet), Pauline Sachse, Peter Bruns, and Tobias Feldmann. She has been a guest artist at venues including the Musikverein Wien, Grafenegg Festival, Mozartwoche Salzburg, Montecastelli Music Festival, and Con Spirito Festival Leipzig.
Marie-Therese is a member of the Musethica program and a recipient of the Villa Musica Chamber Music Foundation scholarship. She plays a violin crafted by Stefan-Peter Greiner (Bonn, 2005).
Alexandra Moser
Die aus dem salzburger Land stammende Violinistin Alexandra Moser bekam ihren ersten Violinunterricht im Alter von vier Jahren. Sie wurde bald darauf Schülerin an der Universität Mozarteum Salzburg in der Vorbereitungsklasse von Prof. Lukas Hagen. Es folgten internationale solistische Auftritte mit regionalen Orchestern. Ihre akademische Laufbahn führte sie von Salzburg über Basel bis nach Wien, wo sie mit Lukas Hagen, Barbara Doll, Johannes Meissl, Peter Schuhmayer und Kristina Suklar arbeitete. Zusätzlich erhielt sie musikalische Impulse von Nora Chastain, Rainer Schmidt, Pierre Amoyal, Friedemann Eichhorn, Vadim Gluzman, Clive Brown, Guy Braunstein und Hatto Beyerle. Ihre Leidenschaft gilt besonders der Kammermusik. Regelmäßig tritt sie kammermusikalisch bei internationalen, renommierten Festivals wie OCM Prussia Cove, Mozartwoche Salzburg und Grafenegg Festival auf und musiziert dabei mit namhaften Musikern wie Lukas Hagen, Valentin Erben, Marianna Shirinyan, Harriet Krijgh und Alena Baeva. Alexandra Moser ist Gründungsmitglied des Javus Quartetts.
Marvin Stark
Marvin Stark, born in 1999 in Halle (Saale), began playing the violin at the age of 5 at the "Georg Friedrich Händel" Conservatory. Later, he switched to the viola and received instruction from renowned professors at the University of Music "Franz Liszt" in Weimar. He continued his musical education at the Music Gymnasium Schloss Belvedere. In 2019, he commenced his studies with Prof. Pauline Sachse at the University of Music Lübeck (since 2023 at the University of Music in Leipzig) and also participated in exchange programs in Salzburg and Geneva. Marvin has successfully participated in national and international competitions, receiving several awards and prizes. He performed as a soloist with orchestras at the age of 13 and has since performed in renowned concert halls on all inhabited continents. Additionally, he is a recipient of scholarships from various musical foundations and a member of several select ensembles such as the LGT Young Soloists. Marvin plays a viola made by the Voller brothers from around 1900 in London, which is entrusted to him by a Viennese patron.
Oscar
Hagen
Oscar Hagen was born in Salzburg in 1996. He studied at the Mozarteum in Salzburg with Giovanni Gnocchi and in 2017 moved to the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna with Stefan Kropfitsch. In the summer of 2015, she won 1st prize at the Premio Crescendo competition. In 2015 and 2016 Oscar was a member of the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra and in 2017 and 2019 he took part in the Summer Academy of the Mahler Chamber Orchestra. He won the audition for the Academy of the Tonkunstler Orchestra for the 2018/2019 season.