Flinders Quartet is instantly recognisable as one of Australia’s most loved chamber music ensembles. For them, 2013 is a season of new beginnings and they are delighted to launch themselves with a fresh perspective into the musical tradition that holds them together.
Flinders sees chamber music as a conversation that transcends language, age and circumstance, and for their 2013 season they invite audiences to explore with them the contributions of Beethoven, Ravel, Shostakovich, Piazzolla, Munro and Kats-Chernin. They are thrilled to welcome Ukrainian pianist Dmitry Onishchenko and Australian percussionist Claire Edwardes to their stage in a season of strength, celebration and diversity.
Flinders Quartet is instantly recognisable as one of Australia’s most loved chamber music ensembles. For them, 2013 is a season of new beginnings and they are delighted to launch themselves with a fresh perspective into the musical tradition that holds them together. Flinders sees chamber music as a conversation that transcends language, age and circumstance, and for their 2013 season they invite audiences to explore with them the contributions of Beethoven, Ravel, Shostakovich, Piazzolla, Munro and Kats-Chernin. They are thrilled to welcome Ukrainian pianist Dmitry Onishchenko and Australian percussionist Claire Edwardes to their stage in a season of strength, celebration and diversity.
Acknowledged as one of Australia’s finest string quartets, Flinders’ dynamic and stirring performances of a full spectrum of repertoire have audiences and critics articulating their esteem. Since their formation, Flinders has regularly commissioned and premiered works by Australian composers. In 2013, the quartet will premiere a new string quartet by Elena Kats-Chernin, and a new work by Paul Dean is slated for 2014. Flinders has previously commissioned and premiered works by Peter Sculthorpe, Ian Munro, Calvin Bowman, Richard Mills, Elena Kats-Chernin, Ross Edwards, Stuart Greenbaum, and Katy Abbott in their ongoing mission to further the Australian tradition of chamber music.
Vanguards of the Melbourne chamber music scene, Flinders initiated their own annual subscription series in 2002. The series has gained momentum each year, and the quartet now enjoys programming and presenting their own concerts in two Melbourne venues and one Sydney venue, thrice-annually.
The quartet is regularly invited to perform and tour for chamber music presenters such as Musica Viva, and is in demand at festivals throughout Australia where they often appear in association with some of the country’s finest talents, including Slava Grigoryan, David Thomas, Kristian Chong, Ian Munro, Paul Dean, Karin Schaupp and Genevieve Lacey.
Building on their 2006 Limelight Award and identification amongst Australia’s most influential artists, and on their 2007 Melbourne Prize for Music nomination, Flinders, in collaboration with new music ensemble Halcyon, was nominated for a 2007 ARIA (Australian Recording Industry Association) award for their performance of Gillian Whitehead’s Bright Forms Return for string quartet and mezzo-soprano. In 2010, Flinders was again nominated for the Melbourne Prize for Music, and in 2011 received an ARIA nomination for their CD release with Karin Schaupp (guitar), Fandango.
Flinders was Radio 3MBS FM’s inaugural selection as Artists in Residence, a position they held until 2006. The quartet continues to receive regular airplay on that station, as well as on ABC Classic FM, Sydney’s 2MBS FM, and various other Australian stations.
Flinders’ first commercial CD release, reinventions with Genevieve Lacey, was received with great critical acclaim, as has their ARIA-nominated 2011 release, Fandango, on the ABC Classics label with Karin Schaupp.
Flinders’ 2013 performance schedule includes their annual Melbourne and Sydney subscription series, concerts with SIPCA finalist and winner of the 2012 ‘Flinders Quartet Prize’, Dmitry Onishchenko, a collaboration with internationally renowned percussionist Claire Edwardes, the premiere of an Elena Kats-Chernin commission, as well as recitals and masterclasses in various parts of metropolitan and regional Australia.