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Musical quartet Yuko, Sarah, David and Julien

The four of them were friends at music school in Zurich when they decided to form this quartet. The quartet gets its name from a character in Greek mythology, Galatea, who is resurrected with the help of love and musicians.

Yuko Tsuboi began playing when she was four but for brother-sister duo Sarah and Julien music was happenstance. “No one in my family is a musician,” says Julien, the spokesperson for the group. “When I was eight we discovered a violin in the cellar of their house and that’s how we began playing.” Sarah and Yuko play the violin while David plays the viola. For Julien, the violin gave way to the cello. “I like the deeper sound of the cello as compared to the higher pitch of the violin.

My teacher also said I have big hands, so I should shift to the cello,” adds Julien jokingly.

“Indians appreciate music better than most people,” says Julien. “Indian music is very deep, and developed and most people here have been exposed to that, therefore they understand and have a better appreciation for chamber music.” Sometimes, in some countries, he goes on to explain, people cannot tell the difference between good music and junk.

Since their inception in 2005, the Quartet has won various prizes in Europe including the audience prize at the Geneva International Music Competition and the first prize at the Migros Chamber Music Competition in 2007, a prestigious award amongst chamber musicians. As part of their India tour and to promote brotherhood, the quartet has learnt a few songs of Rabindranath Tagore. “We were taught how to play them correctly by music students in Kolkata,” he says. They have also decided to travel to compare train travel in India vis-À-vis Switzerland.

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