AKELA was founded in 2019 at the Royal Danish Academy of Music and has since been interpreting the quartet repertoire with presence and curiosity under the tutelage of Professor Tim Frederiksen at chamber music festivals, international masterclasses, competitions and in concerts all over Denmark.

In 2022 the quartet was selected to join Le Dimore del Quartetto – an international networkenhancing young string quartets.

The quartet consists of Clara Glasdam (violin), Gustav Ranum (violin), Kirsten Wilbrandt Kjær (viola) and Oskar Reuben Friis-Hansen (cello). Although the quartet was founded in 2019, all four members have played together in the Danish National Youth Orchestra, which has greatly contributed to their strong common musical and personal understanding.

AKELA strives towards the goal of being a caring and inspiring ensemble and have arranged and played concerts of very different character – from school concerts with singing and storytelling, concerts in some of the biggest halls in Denmark and side-by-side concerts with music students to nursing home concerts during the corona-lockdown in Denmark.

Since its beginning AKELA has played around 50 concerts and in 2021 they won first prize in the ENKOR International Chamber Music Competition. Furthermore the quartet has participated in several masterclasses with teachers such as Hatto Beyerle (Alban Berg Quartet), Johannes Meissl (Artis Quartet) and the members of The Danish String Quartet.

Individually, the four members are an active part of Danish musical life, both in their soloistic endeavors and in the Orchestras of Denmark. For all of them though, their biggest passion is chamber music, which they always approach with creativity and openness.