Last Chance To See the Goldner String Quartet

Having celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2020, the Goldner String Quartet has longstanding recognition, not only as Australia’s pre-eminent string quartet but as an ensemble of international significance, favourably compared with the best in the world.

Launched in 1995 and still retaining all founding members, the Quartet is named after Richard Goldner, founder of Musica Viva Australia. The musicians are well known to Australian and international audiences through their performances and recordings and for their concurrent membership of the Australia Ensemble UNSW. All have occupied principal positions in organisations such as the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and Australian Chamber Orchestra.

Unanimous audience and critical acclaim following its Wigmore Hall debut in 1997 ensured the Quartet’s invitations to prestigious UK and European festivals. Performances in the USA and throughout Asia have followed, in addition to several tours of New Zealand. The Quartet’s appearances in the 2011 City of London Festival drew capacity audiences and unanimous praise from UK critics and were broadcast on the BBC.

The Quartet regularly appears at many of Australia’s leading music festivals including Music in the Hunter, in addition to being Quartet in Residence at the annual Australian Festival of Chamber Music in Townsville. The Quartet has also made many appearances at the Musica Viva Festival and the Huntington Estate Music Festival, and enjoyed outstanding success at the 2017 Adam Chamber Music Festival, in Nelson, NZ. More recently the Quartet has toured the UK, and performed in Italy for the opening of the 2019 Biennale Arte in Venice.

Strongly committed to teaching the next generation of string quartets, the Goldner String Quartet has mentored young ensembles through programs of the Australian Youth Orchestra, Musica Viva Australia and the Sydney Conservatorium. New works have been regularly commissioned for the Quartet from many of Australia’s leading composers.