Australian String Quartet launches national tours at WA Museum Boola Bardip Hackett Hall

Australian String Quartet will launch both of its national tours for 2026 in Perth, reflecting the Adelaide-based ensemble’s close affinity with WA audiences.

“It is always a pleasure to start our tours with our wonderful Perth audiences, in the presence of Otto the Blue Whale at WA Museum Boola Bardip’s Hackett Hall,” cellist Michael Dahlenburg said, referencing the skeleton suspended over the heritage building’s collection of artistic and natural treasures.

“The warmth and generosity of spirit of Perth audiences sets our tours off on the right foot.”

Contemporary Australian composer Elizabeth Younan provides the introduction and inspiration for the first tour, opening in Perth on May 11, with her String Quartet No.1, Interwoven; “a shimmering tapestry” of sound.

Haydn, master of the genre, follows with the definitive String Quartet in A Major, Opus 20, No.6, travelling back to an era when ASQ’s matching Guadagnini instruments were first heard.

Prokofiev’s folkloric wartime String Quartet No.2 in F major then brings the “colour, grit and lyricism” of the 20th century to light, before Clara Schumann’s Variations on a theme by Robert Schumann wraps up the program with romance and Romantic expression in homage to her husband.

Contemporary work by Irish-born Garth Knox opens the second tour in Perth on October 12 with Satellites, “a kaleidoscopic exploration of sound and texture that expands the sonic possibilities of the string quartet”.

Bartok’s String Quartet No.4 then broaches “a playground of Hungarian folk influences and raw emotion”.

Finally, Beethoven stamps his indelible mark on the season with the String Quartet in B-flat major, Opus 130, and Grosse Fuge, Opus 133. Originally conceived as one piece they were subsequently separated, and together represent the last of Beethoven’s completed works.

Tickets and more information at asq.com.au/whats-on/.