Established at the Korean National University of Arts in 2007, the Novus String Quartet is one of the leading chamber music ensembles in Korea, having first caused a sensation in Europe in 2012 when it earned the second prize in the string quartet category at the renowned ARD Music Competition. Two years later the quartet received first prize at the Salzburg Mozart Competition. Ever since, the quartet has been filling international concert halls and inspiring audiences and critics alike.  

From 2011 to 2014, the Novus String Quartet studied with professors Christoph Poppen and Hariolf Schlichtig at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Munich. In 2016 and 2017, the Novus String Quartet was mentored by the Belcea Quartet and was accepted into the Belcea Quartet Trust Coaching Scheme. In 2020, the musicians moved back to South Korea, where they are now sought-after professors at the Korean National University of Arts (Young-uk Kim in violin, his colleagues for chamber music). 

Their first CD (Novus Quartet #1) was released by the French Label Aparté in spring 2016, and it presents works from Beethoven, Webern, and the rarely played Korean composer Isang Yun. The second recording, of Tchaikovsky’s First String Quartet and his sextet Souvenir de Florence, was released in fall 2017, followed in spring 2019 by the group’s recording of Berg’s Lyric Suite and Schubert’s quartet “Death and the Maiden,” which was chosen as “sélection album” by Le Monde in January 2019. Their latest release (spring 2022) features Shostakovich String Quartets No. 3 and  No. 8, on the Aparté label. It was rated 5 out of 5 by Diapason magazine. 
 
European highlights of the 2024/25 season include concerts at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and Wigmore Hall in London.