Australian String Quartet first ever tour of NZ

Chamber Music New Zealand present
AUSTRALIAN STRING QUARTET

The Australian String Quartet launch the 2007 Chamber Music New Zealand Celebrity Season with a ten centre tour in March and April 2007. This will be their first visit to New Zealand.

Formally known as the Tankstream Quartet, in 2007 they became the Australian String Quartet (ASQ). Formed in 2000, the quartet hold the distinction of having won more international chamber music competitions than any other ensemble in Australian history.
They are renowned for their distinctive musical approach demonstrated by their success in international competitions and growing prominence on the concert stage.

As the Tankstream, they performed in Hamburg, Berlin, Paris, Aix-en-Provence, London, Copenhagen, Cologne, Belgrade, Budapest and Zagreb, as well as throughout Australia and Japan. In 2004, they were chosen by the Australian government to be cultural ambassadors for the Danish Royal Wedding.

The ASQ is Sophie Rowell – violin, Anne Horton - violin, Sally Boud - viola and Rachel Johnston – cello

Amongst the Australians is New Zealander, cellist Rachel Johnston. Originally from Hamilton, Rachel has performed as a soloist in Austria, Milan, Kuwait, Edinburgh, Belfast, Paris, Australia, England and the United States.

She was awarded First Prize in her debut international competition - the Wettbewerb fűr Violoncello in Austria in 1998. Rachel has been awarded an Honours Degree in Cello Performance from the Canterbury University in Christchurch, Masters in Performance with Distinction at London University and an Artist's Diploma in Performance from the acclaimed Juilliard School in Manhattan.

'I am so thrilled to be returning to NZ. It will be the first time we have toured NZ as the ASQ; for me this tour is going to be as much a pleasure as it is business!'

Rachel returns to her home town of Hamilton for the first ever CMNZ Celebrity Season gala performance on 31 March.

They will play a programme covering unfamiliar as well as popular repertoire from centuries of inspired composition for the string quartet.

In Programme One Alban Berg's Lyric Suite tells a hidden story inspired by Berg's love for Hanna Fuchs-Robettin, the wife of a Prague businessman. From the jovial opening portrait to the desolate finale, the work's six movements become progressively more intense in expression as the lovers’ situation becomes more desperate. Berg’s writing for the four players is so detailed and complex that quartets can only approach performance of this work after many years of experience.

''They play with vigorous attack, quiet delicacy and intense concentration."
The Adelaide Review (Australia)

Programme one concludes with Schubert's most popular quartet, Death and the Maiden. A work which shows an irresistible dramatic impetus from beginning to end, it compels the listener from its first devastating chord right through to the inevitable tragic end. Nonetheless there are moments and passages of exquisite beauty and tranquillity, particularly in the wonderful “theme and variations” which comprises the slow movement.

Australian composer Carl Vine's String Quartet No 3 provides Programme two with a bang! A brilliantly virtuosic showpiece with an unashamedly romantic second movement and a rollercoaster finish. Alongside this are Haydn: String Quartet in D Opus 76 No 5 and Mendelssohn's String Quartet Opus 444 No 3 in E flat both gems from the classical repertoire.

The ASQ is Quartet-in-Residence at the Elder Conservatorium of Music, University of Adelaide.

This ASQ tour is funded by the Scottwood Trust, a national organisation based in Hamilton. It is the first time that CMNZ has received funding from this organisation.”

Programme One
Schubert: Quartettsatz D703
Berg: Lyric Suite
Schubert: Quartet in D Minor D810 Death and the Maiden

Programme Two
Haydn: String Quartet in D Opus 76 No 5
Carl Vine: String Quartet No 3
Mendelssohn: String Quartet Opus 44 No 3 in E Flat

Concert Dates
March 21 Programme 1 8pm Glernroy Auditorium, Dunedin
March 22 Programme 1 8pm The Victoria Room, Civic Theatre Invercargill
March 24 Programme 2 8pm James Hay Theatre, Christchurch
March 26 Programme 2 8om Nelson Scholl of Music, Nelson
March 27 Programme 2 8pm Wellington Town Hall, Wellington
March 29 Programme 2 8pm Regent on Broadway, Palmerston North
March 30 Programme 1 8pm Century Theatre Napier, Napier
April 2 Programme 2 8pm Theatre Royal, TSB Showplace New Plymouth
April 3 Programme 1 8pm Auckland Town Hall, Auckland

All concerts Start at 8pm

ENDS

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