The New Zealand String Quartet (established 1987) is New Zealand's only full-time

string quartet The term string quartet refers to either a type of musical composition or a group of four people who play them. Many composers from the mid-18th century onwards wrote string quartets. The associated musical ensemble consists of two Violin, violini ...

. The New Zealand String Quartet are resident artists at the biennial Adam Chamber Music Festival in Nelson, New Zealand, and have been the quartet-in-residence at Te Kōkī New Zealand School of Music at

Victoria University of Wellington Victoria University of Wellington (), also known by its shorter names "VUW" or "Vic", is a public university, public research university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of New Zealand Parliament, Parliament, and w ...

, since 1991.

Members

As of March 2025, the current formation of musicians consists of Peter Clark (2nd violin) and Gillian Ansell (viola). Until mid-2025, guest artists will occupy the two vacancies. Applications to join the quartet closed on January 5, 2025. Former members include Helene Pohl (1st violin, before 2025), Rolf Gjelsten (cello, before 2025), Wilma Smith (1st violin, 1987–1993), Josephine Costantino (cello, 1987–1993) and Douglas Beilman (2nd violin, 1989–2015).

Concerts

The NZSQ performs more than eighty concerts a year in New Zealand and international locations. Performances include international festivals such as the Festival of the Sound, Parry Sound, Ontario, Music Mountain Summer Chamber Music Festival in Lakeville, Connecticut, the Australian Festival of Chamber Music in Townsville, Queensland, and Quartetfest at Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario.

Recordings

The Quartet's discography includes a 3-CD series of

Mendelssohn Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions include symphonie ...

's string quartets for

Naxos Records Naxos comprises numerous companies, divisions, imprints, and labels specializing in classical music but also audiobooks and other genres. The premier label is Naxos Records, which focuses on classical music. Naxos Musical Group encompasses about ...

. Other recordings on Naxos include a CD featuring chamber works by

Douglas Lilburn Douglas Gordon Lilburn (2 November 19156 June 2001) was a New Zealand composer. Early life Lilburn was born in Whanganui and spent his early years on the family sheep farm in the upper Turakina River valley at Drysdale. He attended Waitaki ...

and a three-CD Brahms set. Other CDs have included works by a number of New Zealand composers and the complete string quartets of

Béla Bartók Béla Viktor János Bartók (; ; 25 March 1881 – 26 September 1945) was a Hungarian composer, pianist and ethnomusicologist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century; he and Franz Liszt are regarded as Hunga ...

for Atoll Records. The quartet has also been recorded by CBC in Canada, ABC in Australia, Deutsche Welle (Germany) and

Radio New Zealand Radio New Zealand (), commonly known as RNZ or Radio NZ, is a New Zealand public service broadcaster and Crown entity. Established under the Radio New Zealand Act 1995, it operates news and current affairs station, RNZ National, and a classi ...

References

External links

New Zealand School of Music
www.victoria.ac.nz
New Zealand String Quartet Official Site
www.nzsq.org.nz {{Authority control New Zealand classical music groups String quartets Musical groups established in 1987 International string quartets