The Full Story
FLINDERS QUARTET
Elizabeth was thrilled to step into to the Flinders First Violin chair at the beginning of 2024. She has long-standing connections with all members; she and Wilma Smith met in 1985 at the Portsmouth International String Quartet Competition while Zoe Knighton and Helen Ireland have known her for decades too.
Over their 24 year history, Flinders Quartet has emerged as a true grassroots string quartet immersed in Melbourne's community and culture. The quartet is immensely proud of their new music commissions and over seventy quartets have been premiered by the quartet in their 24-year history.
FQ has followed a unique path and continues to live up to its motto of “caring for tradition, daring to be different” through its busy schedule of activities. Flinders Quartet often incorporates other art forms; from inviting audience members to pen Haiku poems to accompany Webern, to intertwining Shakespeare monologues with Mendelssohn’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”
2024 season
“They have a spirit of curiosity about the repertoire - here and elsewhere - and take us on remarkable musical voyages.” — AUDIENCE MEMBER
Vanguards of the Melbourne chamber music scene, FQ initiated its own annual subscription series in 2002. The series has gained momentum each year, and the quartet now enjoys programming and presenting its own season in Victorian venues and around Australia, delivering dynamic and stirring performances which are focussed on contextualising master works of the canon together with new works. In 2024 audience can attend subscription concerts at Melbourne Recital Centre, St. Johns Church Southgate, St Johns Church in Flinders and Montsalvat.
Fostering new music
“When the history of chamber music performance and collaboration with Australian composers is eventually written, the Flinders Quartet will be front and centre of that history.” CALVIN BOWMAN, COMPOSER & COLLABORATOR
FQ has a steadfast commitment to the accessibility of the string quartet and the growth of Australian chamber music, championing contemporary relevance and art-form regeneration. They offer two composer programs (Ascend and Emerge) working with mid-career and emerging composers selected nationwide, while regularly investing in commissioning and premiering works by both esteemed and emerging Australian composers. FQ’s 2024 season includes the premieres of new works by Gordon Kerry and Bryony Marks.
