Wave Marimba Quartet
The Wave Quartet was formed when world-renowned marimba player Bogdan Bacanu created an adaptation of J.S. Bach’s three concertos for two harpsichords for marimba.
He joined forces with his former student Christoph Sietzen, prizewinner of the 2014 ARD International Music Competition and Rising Star of the European Concert Hall Organisation (2017/18), as well as with Emiko Uchiyama and Vladi Petrov, who had won several international competitions as a marimba duo. In 2019, Nico Gerstmayer joined the ensemble, succeeding Vladi Petrov.
The ensemble made its debut in 2008 at the Konzerthaus Berlin, performing Bach’s Concerto in C major (BWV 1061a) arranged for four marimbas. Both transcription and performance were praised for their respect for the original score and historically informed performance practice. Since then, music by Bach and his contemporaries has played a central role in the quartet’s wide-ranging repertoire, extending to Astor Piazzolla and the new arrangement of Bizet’s “Carmen,” released on CD by Sony Classical in 2019.
Concerts and masterclasses have taken the Wave Quartet to venues such as Cologne Philharmonie, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Konzerthaus Berlin and Vienna, Müpa Budapest, Town Hall Birmingham, Bozar Brussels, Concertgebouw Amsterdam and Suntory Hall Tokyo. They have appeared with orchestras including the Mozarteumorchester Salzburg, the Romanian National Symphony Orchestra and L’Orfeo Barockorchester.
Highlights of the 2018/2019 season included the premiere of a new concerto by Avner Dorman in the Golden Hall of the Musikverein Vienna, a return to the Grafenegg Festival with the Tonkünstler Orchestra under Yutaka Sado and concerts with the Academy of Ancient Music at the Barbican in London.
The members of the Wave Quartet perform exclusively on marimbas supplied by Adams Musical Instruments.
