New Zealand String Quartet

The New Zealand String Quartet – Te Rōpū Tūrū O Aotearoa (NZSQ) has distinguished itself on the world stage with its insightful interpretations, compelling communication, and dynamic performing style. The group’s imaginative programming and creative collaborations have been hallmarks of its 37-year history, as well as making an indelible impact on the cultural life of New Zealand as performers, innovators, and teachers. In addition to regular nationwide touring in Aotearoa New Zealand, the Quartet has debuted at Wigmore Hall in London, the Frick in New York, and the Library of Congress in Washington, and has toured internationally in Australia, North America, Europe, and Asia. Celebrating Beethoven’s 250th birthday, the NZSQ presented Beethoven cycles in Germany and the Netherlands in 2022. This November will mark their Hungarian debut at the Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest. As cultural ambassadors for Aotearoa New Zealand, the NZSQ proudly champions the astonishingly creative and diverse composers of their home country. They have premiered over 150 New Zealand works, including collaborations with taonga pūoro (Māori traditional instruments). The group’s passion to communicate the greatness of the string quartet repertoire with all New Zealanders has led to them performing Beethoven and Bartok cycles all over the country, as well as a wide range of repertoire in centres large and small, in venues from venerable Town Halls to art galleries and community centres. Recent innovations have included “Sounds of the Sanctuary,” a birdsong-inspired programme performed to sold out crowds at bird sanctuaries nationwide. Plans for 2025 include blanketing the country with the complete cycle of Shostakovich quartets. The NZSQ has enjoyed collaborating with many eminent artists including all the notable pianists of New Zealand, as well as Anton Kuerti, Denes Varjon, Piers Lane, Andre LaPlante, Alexander Lonquich, Peter Nagy, Kathryn Stott, Martin Roscoe; the Jerusalem, Prazak, Ying, Goldner, Takacs, Lindsay, and St. Lawrence quartets; Julian Bliss, Nobuko Imai, Hariolf Schlichtig, James Crabb and Colin Carr. A particularly close relationship with Canadian clarinettist James Campbell has led to frequent collaborations in Canada as well as New Zealand, a landmark recording of the Brahms quintet, and premieres of quintets from both countries. Wider-ranging collaborations have included performances with Omar Farouk Tekbilek, Rahim Alhaj, Uri Caine, Dick Oatts, Jim Hall, Wayne Marshall, and many Māori traditional musicians, such as Horomona Horo and Ariana Tikao. Creative collaborations have included theatrical presentations encompassing spoken word and dance, from Haydn’s Seven Last Words and Beethoven’s Quartets to Schoenberg’s Transfigured Night and touring on stage with the Royal New Zealand Ballet. In addition to many CDs devoted to New Zealand music, the NZSQ discography includes the complete quartets of Mendelssohn, Berg, and Brahms and a collection of Asian music for Naxos, as well as Schubert, Beethoven, Debussy and Ravel and the complete Bartok Quartets on the Atoll label. Their CD “Notes from a Journey” won the Best Classical Album award at the 2011 Vodafone NZ Music Awards. Devoted teachers and mentors, members of the NZSQ teach at the New Zealand School of Music – Te Kōkī where they have been Quartet-in-Residence since 1991. They regularly mentor young students from Sistema programmes around the country and, since 1995, they have been running the annual Adam Summer School for Chamber Music. The NZSQ has given masterclasses internationally at institutions such as the Banff Centre, Brisbane’s Griffith Conservatory, the Peabody Conservatory, the Yon Siew Toh Conservatory in Singapore, and the Stuttgart Hochschule. Quartet members Helene Pohl and Gillian Ansell are the artistic directors of the biennial Adam Chamber Music Festival, hailed as the “Salzburg of the South,” which attracts star performers as well as audiences from around the world. The three longest serving members of the Quartet have each been awarded the MNZM (Member of the NZ Order of Merit) honour for services to music in New Zealand. Musicians: Helene Pohl, Violin I (plays a 1730 Guarneri.) Peter Clark, Violin II (plays a 1784 Storioni kindly loaned by the Duncan Craig and Lily Duncan Trust.) Gillian Ansell, Viola (plays a 1619 Amati kindly loaned by the Adam Foundation.) Rolf Gjelsten, Cello (plays a 1705 Gofriller.)

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