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Australian String Quartet Resumes Touring
June 7, 2021 @ 7:00 pm
The Australian String Quartet will resume its national touring program in May and June 2021.
Comprising music by Felix Mendelssohn, Béla Bartók and Pavel Fischer, these 70 minute programs will be a farewell to long-time ASQ viola, Stephen King, who steps into the new role of ASQ Director of Learning and Engagement, in the second half of this year. A touring musician for over 20 years, King joined the ASQ in 2012 after careers with ensembles including the Australian Chamber Orchestra, the Washington-based Coolidge String Quartet (USA) and the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra (USA).
The tour will also welcome the ASQ’s newest member, cellist Michael Dahlenburg, in his debut tour with the quartet. Dahlenburg studied cello at the Australian National Academy of Music in Melbourne, before forming the award-winning Hamer Quartet, and becoming the principal cello of the Melbourne Chamber Orchestra. He joined the ASQ in November 2020.
From its homebase at the University of Adelaide, Elder Conservatorium of Music, the ASQ’s reach extends throughout Australia and the world to engage people with an outstanding program of performances, workshops, commissioning and education projects.The Quartet’s distinct sound is enhanced by a matched set of 18th century Guadagnini instruments, handcrafted by Giovanni Battista Guadagnini between c.1743 and 1784 in Turin and Piacenza, Italy. These precious instruments are on loan for the ASQ’s exclusive use through the generosity of UKARIA.
Dale Barltrop plays a 1784 Guadagnini Violin, Turin/ Francesca Hiew Plays a 1748-49 Guadagnini Violin, Piacenza/ Stephen King plays a 1783 Guadagnini Viola, Turin/ Michael Dahlenburg plays a c.1743 Guadagnini Violincello, Piacenza ‘ Ngeringa’
The program: Béla Bartók String Quartet no 3/ Felix Mendelssohn, String Quartet no 1 in E flat major op 12/ Pavel Fischer, String Quartet no 3 Mad Piper
Image: L-R: Stephen King (viola), Michael Dahlenburg (cello), Francesca Hiew (violin), Dale Barltrop (violin) Photo: Jacqui Way