The Manhattan String Quartet’s Workshop in Vienna in January 2027, a Celebration of 200 Years Since Beethoven’s Passing:  A Perspective by MSQ Violinist, Anna Lim

One of my favorite times of year is now January, when the Manhattan String Quartet goes to Europe for its annual European “Cultural Expedition”.  I became a member of the MSQ in 2019, just before the pandemic, and my last travel before everything was shut down was to Bonn to celebrate Beethoven’s 250th birthday with 40 American amateur string players, all of us studying Beethoven‘s string quartet opus 59 no. 3. The city of Bonn put on a marvelous show, with creative statues of Beethoven on every city block (Beethoven with crazy red hair, Beethoven wearing a turban, and one with him decorated with fish from the movie “Finding Nemo”. ) The city museum mounted the most comprehensive exhibit of artifacts from Beethoven’s life, including the manuscript of the Eroica Symphony with the dedication to Napoleon scratched out so vehemently that it made a hole in the paper.

This is all to say that these trips with MSQ have been very illuminating, not to mention tons of fun.  We travel together and get to know each other in ways that you only do when you are in a foreign country with friends.  We coach our participant musicians on the piece in question in the morning, and in the afternoon we undertake tours of cultural significance to the composer we are studying.

This year, from January 10-17, 2027, we are again celebrating Beethoven, this time in Vienna on the 200th anniversary of his death.  If you ask me, every year is a Beethoven year, but this gives us one more reason to keep scaling the heights of the great quartets.  I am really looking forward to this trip, for many reasons.  One is quite personal:  my family moved to Vienna just before my senior year and I graduated high school in Vienna. After college I returned to Austria and was lucky to study at the Hochschule für Musik with Gerhard Schulz of the Alban Berg Quartet.  So the city is full of memories of my student years.  

But getting back to the Manhattan String Quartet…our workshop in January will feature Beethoven’s late masterwork, his string quartet in E-flat major opus 127.  I should mention here that opus 127, one of the most glorious works ever written for string quartet, was commissioned by the amateur cellist, Prince Nikolai Galitzin of St. Petersburg.  An avid quartet player,  Galitzin requested more string quartets from Beethoven in 1822, at any price of commission.  This brought Beethoven back to string quartet composing after a hiatus of 10 years.  And it saved Beethoven from his financial woes, while bringing three of the late quartets into existence (also opus 130 and 132).  So we have amateur players to thank for the opus 127, and indeed for their major role in the entire history of chamber music. In this important Beethoven year, it is meaningful to be honoring him in Vienna together with a group of music lovers.

It will be amazing to study this piece in the city in which it was composed.  After a morning of rehearsing and coaching, in the afternoons we will tour many  Beethoven landmarks:  the Beethoven museum in Heilgenstadt, a tavern where Beethoven lived, his gravesite in the Zentralfriedhof, and Gustav Klimt’s homage to the great composer, and the famous Beethoven Frieze in the Secession Museum.

We will also get a private tour of the Vienna State Opera House, which is right across the street from the hotel we are staying in (which btw is a 5-star hotel, a special treat for this celebratory year, and is directly on the famous “Ringstrasse”).  As usual, our resident music guru, music theorist David Clampitt, will illuminate the inner workings of opus 127 in a lecture just for our group.  This is just the bare outline of what the experience will really be, as eating Wiener Schnitzel and hanging out in Viennese cafes will be equally important!

Apply by Monday, September 14, 2026

We are still accepting applications, so please think of joining us for this adventure!  You can come as an individual, or with a pre-formed group.  We also welcome friends and family, who can come along for all the fun and do other organized tours in the city while you play music.  

Information and application here:  

https://manhattanstringquartet.com/msq-vienna/