The German–Swiss Amaryllis Quartet is the first recipient of a major new chamber music prize awarded by the Frankfurt-based Jürgen Ponto Foundation.

The €60,000 award will be given every two years to a young German, Swiss or Austrian quartet that has already won an international chamber music competition. The purpose of the prize is to support the quartet at the start of its professional career.

The Amaryllis Quartet first studied with Walter Levin in Basle, and then spent two years with the Alban Berg Quartet in Cologne. In October 2009 the group moved to Madrid to study with Günter Pichler at the Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofía.

In 2011 the Amaryllis won the finalists' prize at the Premio Paolo Borciani in Reggio Emilia (no first prize was awarded) and also won first prize and the grand prize at the Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition.

Topics