LOEWE QUARTETT - String Quartet

Bastian Loewe and Livia Loewe-Berchtold, Violin
Juan Carlos Escobar Ossa, Viola
Milena Marena, Cello

The Loewe Quartett was founded in 2020 at the Zürcher Hochschule der Künste and won 1st prize at the Kiwanis Wettbewerb of ZHdK in 2021. In a short time, the Loewe Quartett has established itself as a young, promising Swiss string quartet and performed in 2022 at the small hall of the Tonhalle Zürich as part of the season opening. Artistic inspiration was received from Wendy Enderle (Carmina Quartet), Thomas Grossenbacher, Alexander Sitkovetsky (Julia Fischer Quartet), and Lawrence Power. In 2023, the Loewe Quartett won the first Kammermusikwettbewerb Paul Juon and is supported for a period of three years by the Förderkreis Kammermusik Schweiz. Livia Loewe-Berchtold and Bastian Loewe are founding members of the Loewe Quartett. Since 2023, Juan Carlos Escobar Ossa has been playing with the quartet, and since 2024, Milena Marena has joined.

Bastian Loewe, Violin
Often referred to as the best Chilean violinist of his generation, Bastian Loewe has performed as a soloist with various orchestras: with Sinfonieorchester Basel, Kammerorchester Basel, and in Chile with Orquesta Sinfónica de Chile, Camerata Chile, and Camerata Uandes. In 2020, he performed as a soloist in front of 10,000 people at the famous ‘Quinta Vergara’ forest stage in Viña del Mar, Chile.

As a chamber musician, he has played at festivals in Switzerland, Canada, Chile, and Austria. At the Dr Luis Sigall International Competition in Viña del Mar, Chile, he won 3rd prize, the Audience Prize, and the prize for the best interpretation of the Chilean required piece. Bastian Loewe was born in Santiago de Chile and moved to Berlin at the age of 18, where he earned his bachelor's degree at the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler under Prof. Eva Christina Schönweiss. He continued his studies at the Hochschule für Musik Basel with Barbara Doll, earning a master's in performance as well as a Master’s in Soloist with distinction. 

In 2021/22, Bastian was one of the ten selected students for the ‘Concertmaster Artist Diploma’ at the Accademia Stauffer in Cremona. Thanks to this program, Bastian had the opportunity to work with various concertmasters from Europe, such as Volkhard Steude (Wiener Philharmoniker), Olga Volkova (Mariinsky Theatre), Vesko Eschkenazy (Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra), Anton Barakhovsky (Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks), Andrea Obiso (Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia), Lothar Strauss (Berliner Staatskapelle), Lorenza Borrani (Chamber Orchestra of Europe), and Lisa Schatzman (Luzerner Sinfonieorchester).

Further important artistic impulses were received from Stefan Picard, Mariana Sirbu, Friedemann Weigle, Silvia Simionescu, Winfried Rademacher, Kurt Sassmanshaus, Alexander Sitkovetsky, Rainer Schmidt, Anton Kernjak, Pavel Vernikov, and David Takeno.

Since March 2022, Bastian has been a member of the first violin section at Musikkollegium Winterthur, after serving for a year in the first violin section of Sinfonieorchester Biel Solothurn. Since 2017, he has been a substitute violinist at Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich.

Livia Loewe-Berchtold, Violin
Livia Loewe-Berchtold is a versatile Swiss violinist who works as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral player. She has been awarded several prizes in various competitions, including as a laureate of the ORPHEUS Swiss Chamber Music Competition 2019. Her regular concert activity across Switzerland has led her to festivals such as the Musikdorf Ernen and the Swiss Chamber Music Festival in Adelboden, as well as concert venues like the small Tonhalle Zürich.

She completed her master's in performance with Alexander Sitkovetsky at Zürcher Hochschule der Künste in 2021 with distinction. Prior to that, she studied at Hochschule für Musik Basel, earning both her bachelor's degree with Daniel Sepec and her master's in music education with Barbara Doll, also with distinction. During her master's studies, she spent an exchange year at Hochschule für Musik und Theater Rostock with Stefan Hempel. She received further artistic impulses from Zakhar Bron, Ingolf Turban, Adelina Oprean, Wendy Enderle, Winfried Rademacher, Anton Kernjak, and Benjamin Engeli.

As a passionate orchestral musician, Livia Loewe-Berchtold is a substitute violinist with Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich and Musikkollegium Winterthur. From 2019 to 2021, she was an intern with Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich. She has also been a member of the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester. Her orchestral tours have taken her to renowned concert halls such as the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Musikverein Wien, Philharmonie de Paris, Auditorio Nacional de Música Madrid, Philharmonie Luxembourg and Sala Palatului Bukarest.

Through her great commitment and visionary thinking, she has already initiated various projects. Her passion for chamber music led her in 2021 to establish her own concert series Klassik im Schloss  in Arbon.

Juan Carlos Escobar Ossa, Viola
Juan Carlos Escobar was born in Colombia, where he began his musical education at the Medellín Music School at the age of 9. In 2018, he completed his studies at the Universidad de Antioquia with Maestro José Luis Camisón, where in 2017 he won first prize at the competition in honor of J.S. Bach. He received a scholarship from Colombia’s most prestigious music festival (Cartagena) for a masterclass with the Latin American Quartet. As an orchestral musician with the Colombian Youth Philharmonic (2013-2017), he performed on international tours in the United States and Europe under the direction of Maestro Andrés Orozco Estrada. 

From 2015 to 2018, he was a member of the Iberacademy Orchestra in Colombia. In 2014, he was a participant at the New World Symphony in Miami. In 2018, he had the privilege of performing at the renowned International Summer Festival at the Universität Mozarteum in Salzburg. Additionally, he participated in a summer festival with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra in Sweden in 2019.

He completed his studies at the Hochschule der Künste Bern in 2021 with a Master of Arts in Performance under Gertrud Weinmeister with distinction. He then continued his studies at Zürcher Hochschule der Künste, completing the Master Performance Orchester with Diemut Poppen in 2024.

Juan Carlos Escobar has been an intern at various Swiss orchestras, where he regularly plays as a substitute: at Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, Opernhaus Zürich, Musikkollegium Winterthur, and Orchester Biel Solothurn. As a passionate chamber musician, he plays in various ensembles and maintains an active concert schedule throughout Switzerland.

Milena Marena, Cello
Milena Umiglia-Marena was born into a family of musicians. From the age of 10 until completing her bachelor's degree at the Musikhochschule Basel, she was taught by Rafael Rosenfeld. From 2019 to 2023, she studied with Thomas Grossenbacher at the Zürcher Hochschule der Künste.

She has received numerous prizes and awards in national and international competitions, such as the Murten Classics Cellowettbewerb (2018), the Schenk Solistenwettbewerb (2021), the Kiwanis-Solistenwettbewerb in Zurich (2023), the Vienna Classical Music Academy (2023), the 19th International Padova Music Competition (2023), the Vienna New Years International Competition (2023), and the Slava International Cello Competition (2023). She has also received chamber music prizes, such as at the Schweizerische Kammermusikwettbewerb Orpheus (2021), the Kiwanis Kammermusikwettbewerb Zürich (2022), and the Grand Prize of the Curt und Marian Dienemann Stiftung (2023). She was also a finalist at the Young Credit Suisse Competition with her former string quartet (2022).

Milena has performed in concert with soloists such as Julia Fischer, Alexander Sitkovetsky, Nils Mönkemeyer, Dima Smirnov, Benjamin Engeli, and Fabio Di Càsola. She regularly appears as a soloist with orchestras. So far, she has performed as a soloist in Switzerland, Italy, Argentina, and Spain with orchestras such as the Neues Orchester Basel, Collegium Musicum Zug, Orchester Musikfreunde St.Gallen, Orquesta Sinfonie de Tuchman (ARG), Argovia Philharmonic, Zentralschweizer Jugendsinfonieorchester, orchestra di Padova e del Veneto (ITA), Ensemble Kuraia (ESP), and the Slovak Chamber Orchestra. She was a finalist in the audition for the 100% solo cello position at the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich in November 2021.