A groovy string quartet? The Alou String Quartet makes it happen—transforming jazz, improvisation, and contemporary chamber music into a distinctive urban sound. Featuring violinist Alma Gröning, this year’s recipient of the Marion Ermer Foundation’s Leipzig Jazz Young Talent Award.

Groove, rhythm, and improvisation aren’t exactly the first things that come to mind when people talk about a string quartet. The Alou String Quartet, led by violinist Alma Gröning—who is receiving this year’s Leipzig Jazz Growth Award—plays with this productive sense of surprise.

Despite her young age, she already has a wide range of musical experiences under her belt. While studying jazz violin at the HMT Leipzig, she played in the salsa band Lukas y su Banda and a swing trio, among other groups. Gröning is also currently working on a solo program, which she will be performing on stage soon.

The Alou String Quartet currently holds a special place within her musical body of work. Founded in Leipzig in 2023, the ensemble has since established a reputation as one of the most exciting voices in the young urban jazz scene through numerous international concerts. Its sound weaves together the spontaneity and dynamism of jazz with a chamber music sensibility and a keen sense for contemporary arrangements. At the same time, however, the musical collaboration among the four young musicians is rooted in far more than just an aesthetic understanding: rather, it reflects a special interpersonal bond that began during their time studying music together and has continued to grow ever since.

After performances at Porgy & Bess in Vienna, Birdland in Hamburg, the Detect Classic Festival, and LeipJAZZig, as well as a tour of China, the Alou String Quartet is now returning to Leipzig: the awards concert at the Leipzig Jazz Days marks yet another highlight in the ensemble’s still-young history.

Previously:
Leipzig Jazz Young Talent Award:Jakob Obleser “Music is just wiggly air”

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