The Mozaik Guitar Quartet was founded when four of Europe's most promising young guitarists met at the Mozarteum University in Salzburg in 2017. The Quartet consists of Michael Lochery (Scotland), Hannelore Vander Elst (Belgium), Alvaro García Peón (Spain), and Utkan Aslan (Turkey).

The ensemble has been awarded first prizes at various international competitions. In 2019, they won the Savarez-Corelli Chamber Music Competition in Austria and the Paola Ruminelli International Chamber Music Competition in Italy.

The quartet has performed over 40 concerts in European countries such as Germany, Austria, Italy, Sweden, and Belgium. Highlights include performances at De Grote Post (Belgium), the Nürnberg Chamber Music Festival (Germany), and their Belgian concert tour for Musica et Poetica.

The name “Mozaik” refers to the Mozarteum University, where it all started, and to a mosaic, because their different nationalities and personalities allow them to form one complimentary whole.

The quartet's ambition is to surprise their audience with a fresh repertoire: they present new original music for guitar quartet while also developing the available repertoire through their own arrangements of other composers. Each of the pieces in their program aims to highlight the unique qualities that only a guitar quartet can provide.

Utkan Aslan (°1995, Istanbul, Turkey) started taking guitar lessons with Kaan Umay at the
age of 10. In 2007, he was accepted at the Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University State
Conservatorium. He has performed across Turkey, for example at the 3rd Pera Guitar
Festival and at Barış Manço Concert Hall. In 2012, he cooperated in a CD recording of
modern Turkish guitar music, called "Gitarla Buluşma". He received the silver medal in the
Enrico Mercatali Guitar Festival in 2012. In 2013, he gave a concert at the Forum Gitarre
Wien. He received masterclasses from many esteemed guitarists, such as Hopkinson Smith,
Thomas Müller-Pering, Zoran Dukic, Aniello Desiderio, Enno Vorhoorst, Feliu Gasull, Rene
Izquerdo, Dale Kavanagh, Roland Dyens, Jorgos Panetsos and many others. In 2022 he
received his Master's Degree with greatest distinction under the tuition of Laura Young at the
Universität Mozarteum Salzburg.

Álvaro García Peón (°1997, Santiago de Compostela, Spain) started playing guitar at the
age of 5. In 2015, he graduated with the greatest distinction from the conservatory in Santiago.
He studied classical guitar at the Escuela Superior de Música de Cataluña in Barcelona and
Universität Mozarteum in Salzburg where he finished his degree with the greatest distinction in
2020. Currently, he is finishing his master's in classical guitar with Zoran Dukic at the
Koninklijk Conservatorium in The Hague. Álvaro García has given concerts both as a soloist
and as a chamber musician on many stages in various countries such as Spain, Austria,
Germany, Italy, Belgium, Sweden, Netherlands and Portugal.

Hannelore Vander Elst (°1995, Bornem, Belgium) started taking classical guitar lessons at
the age of 9 with Ward Pauwels at the music academy in Bornem. In 2013 she graduated
with the highest distinction from the SLAC in Leuven with Antoon Vandeborght. In 2016 she
obtained her Bachelor's degree with the highest distinction in the class of Johan Fostier at the
Fontys Conservatory in Tilburg. She then continued her studies with a Master of Music with
Laura Young at the Universität Mozarteum in Salzburg, where she graduated with the highest
distinction in 2019. From an early age, Hannelore participated in master classes and
competitions throughout Europe. In 2017, she was awarded the second prize in the
International Guitar Competition Miguel Llobet in Barcelona. She performs both as a soloist
and as a chamber musician. Apart from the Mozaik Guitar Quartet, she is also a founding
member of Duo Tokár.

Michael Lochery (°1994, Glasgow, Scotland) started playing classical guitar at the age of
15. In 2016, he graduated with a 1st class honours degree from The Royal Conservatoire of
Scotland and in 2020 he completed his Master’s degree with the world-renowned guitarist
Marco Tamayo. He performs internationally as both soloist and chamber musician with the
Mozaik Guitar Quartet among others. Throughout his career, he has been both finalist and
prize winner of international music competitions. Michael has taught in music schools in
Great Britain, Austria, and Germany, and has given masterclasses in Belgium.

A surprising album with a fresh repertoire. From original guitar music to arrangements of string quartets, orchestral, and piano music: Mozaik Guitar Quartet aims to highlight the unique qualities that only a guitar quartet can provide.