The ASQ embraces a spirit of exploration and collaboration in their 2017 National Season.

For their 2017 season, the Australian String Quartet – Dale Barltrop, Francesca Hiew, Stephen King and Sharon Draper – are embracing a spirit of exploration and collaboration. “Our starting point was identifying music that the four of us love and are excited to share with our audiences,” the Quartet told Limelight. “We always aim to search out compelling modern works to pair with the masterpieces of the repertoire to create interesting and diverse experiences.”

For the ASQ’s first national tour of the year, in May, the group will be joined by Australia guitar virtuoso Slava Girgoryan to play American composer Ralph Towner’s Guitar Quintet Migration alongside Australian Iain Grandage’s Black Dogs. “The addition of a guitar to the string quartet adds a unique resonance to our collective sound,” the ensemble explained. “It allows us to expand our palette of colours and textures. Slava Grigoryan is an exceptional musician and great friend of the quartet. We will be recording the Grandage and Towner quintets with him this summer.”

The Australian...