Flinders Quartet is 25! Surely it was only yesterday that four twenty-something-year-olds were cramming into Bill Hennessy’s room at the University of Melbourne at 8am on a Wednesday morning? (The golden rule for an 8am session was don’t be late.) Today we still focus on one bar for an inordinate amount of time as we question every little marking on the page to unearth the composer’s innermost thoughts, but we know now that the impact and importance of what we do goes far beyond the dots on the page.

Over 25 years, each member of the quartet has left an indelible mark and our identity is made up of those countless hours in the practice room; the conversations just before going on stage or in rehearsal breaks, on road trips, national tours or overseas tours; recordings; premieres; mentoring; as well as the laughter and tears shared as a part of the vulnerability required to delve deep into one’s artistic being.

Together, we have crafted a 25th anniversary season that will nurture our sense of identity, allow a deep immersion into the overwhelmingly glorious sound that a string quartet can create, and challenge us (and you!) to find beauty in unexpected places.

Liz, Wilma, Helen and Zoe

Cnr Southbank Boulevard & Sturt Street, Wurundjeri Country/Southbank

Bookings: Melbourne Recital Centre (03) 9699 3333 melbournerecital.com.au

Three Concert Subscription Package: Standard $132 / Concession $105

Single Tickets: Standard $53 / Concession $42

MONDAY 19 MAY, 7PM

TUESDAY 12 AUG, 7PM

WEDNESDAY 29 OCT, 7PM

(transaction & delivery fees may apply)

7 Hillcrest Avenue, Wurundjeri-Willam Country/Eltham

Bookings: Melbourne Recital Centre (03) 9699 3333 melbournerecital.com.au

Three Concert Subscription Package: Standard $126 / Concession $99

Single Tickets: Standard $50 / Concession $40

SUNDAY 18 MAY, 2.30PM

SUNDAY 10 AUG, 2.30PM

SUNDAY 26 OCT, 2.30PM

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20 City Road, Wurundjeri Country/Southbank (Melbourne)

Bookings: flindersquartet.com/tickets or phone Wendy Avilov 0417 798 523 between the hours of 10am & 2pm, Monday to Friday

Three Concert Subscription Package: Standard $90 / Concession $75

Single Tickets: Standard $35 / Concession $30

THURSDAY 15 MAY, 1PM

THURSDAY 7 AUG, 1PM

THURSDAY 23 OCT, 1PM

(transaction & delivery fees may apply)

King Street, Bunurong Country/Flinders (Mornington Peninsula)

Bookings: flindersquartet.com/tickets or phone Wendy Avilov 0417 798 523 between the hours of 10am & 2pm, Monday to Friday

Single Tickets: $35

SATURDAY 17 MAY, 2.30PM

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LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN String Quartet No. 11 in F minor, Op.95

GRAZNYA BACEWICZ Piano Quintet No.1 ^

DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH Piano Quintet in G minor, Op.57 ^

^ These works comprise the St Johns Southgate 60 min concert program

ST JOHNS SOUTHGATE • THURSDAY 15 MAY, 1PM BOOKINGS
(approx 60 min performance, plus post-concert Q&A)

ST JOHN’S CHURCH, FLINDERS • SATURDAY 17 MAY, 2.30PM BOOKINGS
(approx 120 min performance, including interval)

MONTSALVAT BARN GALLERY • SUNDAY 18 MAY, 2.30PM BOOKINGS
(approx 120 min performance, including interval)

PRIMROSE POTTER SALON • MONDAY 19 MAY, 7PM BOOKINGS
(approx 120 min performance, including interval)

Visit FQ Digital to relive the works in this concert program, as well as bonus FQ Discover videos.

“Usually, our programs come about because we want to play the music of specific composers but in the case of this program, it was a performer that was the catalyst. Melbourne has been lucky to have extraordinary pianist, Paavali Jumppanen, in our musical community as Artistic Director at ANAM and we really wanted to play with him, and not just one piano quintet but two! Both Grazyna Bacewicz and Dmitri Shostakovich were accomplished pianists themselves and Bacewicz was also a violin virtuoso, incidentally. I’m looking forward to exploring her music for the first time and discovering how her deep knowledge of the instruments as a performer shows itself in her writing. Shostakovich was so busy performing his popular new piano quintet on tour with his friends of the Beethoven Quartet following its premiere in November 1940 that he hardly had time to compose for six months.

What better way to set up this wonderful piano feast than with Beethoven’s short but powerful Op. 95 F minor quartet “Serioso”, the only one he named himself. Written at a time of personal despair over a failed love affair, worsening deafness, poor health and financial insecurity, it’s not a stretch to hear wild fury and outrage in its opening declaratory bar. I can’t wait for our inevitable confrontation with his metronome mark for the first movement which is so fast as to make it practically unplayable. I remember an excellent quartet presenting this work at MICMC years ago pretty much at Beethoven’s speeds and causing great controversy on the jury.”

WILMA SMITH, VIOLIN

PAAVALI JUMPPANEN • piano

In the span of recent seasons, the imaginative and versatile Finnish virtuoso Paavali Jumppanen has established himself as a dynamic musician of seemingly unlimited capability who has already cut a wide swath internationally as an orchestral and recital soloist, recording artist, artistic director, and frequent performer of contemporary and avant-garde music.

Mr. Jumppanen has performed extensively in the United States, Europe, Japan, China, and Australia and collaborated with great conductors including David Robertson, Sakari Oramo, Susanna Mälkki, Esa-Pekka Salonen, and Jaap van Zweden. He has commissioned numerous works and collaborated with the composers Boulez, Murail, Dutilleux, and Penderecki. The Boston Globe praised the “overflowing energy of his musicianship” and The New York Times cited his “power and an extraordinary range of colors.”

In the recent years Paavali Jumppanen has dedicated much of his time to performing cycles of the complete Beethoven and Mozart piano sonatas. He has frequently performed all of Beethoven’s piano concertos and chamber sonatas. He attended the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki and later worked with Krystian Zimerman at the Basel Music Academy in Switzerland where he also studied organ, fortepiano, and clavichord. Russian born pianist Konstantin Bogino has remained an important mentor throughout his career.

Mr. Jumppanen’s expanding discography includes “the best recorded disc of Boulez’s piano music so far” (the Guardian writing about the three sonatas recorded on a DGG disc made at the composer’s request) and the complete Beethoven Piano Sonatas on Ondine.  He spent the 2011–12 season as a visiting scholar in Harvard University’s Music Department studying musicology and theory to deepen his immersion in Viennese 18th century music. He leads curation at the Väyläfestival, a multi-arts festival in northern Scandinavia and serves as the Artistic Director to the Australian National Academy of Music.

NATALIE NICOLAS “By the Tide of the Moon” ^ *

WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART Adagio & Fugue in C minor, K.546 ^

MELODY EÖTVÖS / RISHIN SINGH “The Letter Writing Project” **

ALEXANDER BORODIN String Quartet No.2 in D major ^

^ These works comprise the St Johns Southgate 60 min concert program

* Commissioned by Andrew Domasevicius-Zilinskas for Flinders Quartet and dedicated to Aida Tuciute, and her beautiful kinship with the ocean

** Commissioned by Flinders Quartet with the support of Kim Williams AM and FQ Syndicate #6

ST JOHNS SOUTHGATE • THURSDAY 17 AUGUST, 1PM BOOKINGS
(approx 60 min performance, plus post-concert Q&A)

MONTSALVAT BARN GALLERY • SUNDAY 10 AUGUST, 2.30PM BOOKINGS
(approx 120 min performance, including interval)

PRIMROSE POTTER SALON • TUESDAY 12 AUGUST, 7PM BOOKINGS
(approx 120 min performance, including interval)

Visit FQ Digital to relive the works in this concert program, as well as bonus FQ Discover videos.

“Mendelssohn famously said, “It’s not that music is too imprecise for words, but too precise...”. We’ve always loved this quote and decided to explore this idea and pair two composers, Melody Eötvös and Rishin Singh, living on opposite sides of the world in a musical letter writing project. The premise being that one composer begins the conversation by writing a short section, which is sent to the other composer who absorbs the music and writes a short section in return. We are, in effect, the go-between. (Just like the famous L.P. Hartley novel of that name but without the scandal.) Inevitably, Melody and Rishin started asking how they should introduce themselves to each other musically, and the way the piece would take shape became a glorious unknown. The idea for this project became the nucleus of this concert program and led us to ask, “can music describe a person?” We think so. “By the Tide of the Moon” captures the ever-changing moods of the sea and the meditative joy of ocean and sea swimming; while Borodin’s second quartet depicts the love of his wife and their first three glorious months of marriage spent in Heidelberg. The themes of love, letter writing, and communication through music are counterbalanced with the crystalline brilliance of Mozart’s Adagio and Fugue in C minor, which celebrates the sheer joy of music for music’s sake alone.”

ZOE KNIGHTON, CELLO

DEBORAH CHEETHAM FRAILLON “Bungaree” ^ *

BRYONY MARKS “Australia Fair? Volume I: The Australian Dream”

ANTONIN DVORAK String Quartet No.14 in A flat Op.105 ^

^ These works comprise the St Johns Southgate 60 min concert program

* Commissioned by Flinders Quartet with support from Andrew Dixon, in memory of Jean and John Dixon

ST JOHNS SOUTHGATE • THURSDAY 23 OCTOBER, 1PM BOOKINGS
(approx 60 min performance, plus post-concert Q&A)

MONTSALVAT GREAT HALL GALLERY • SUNDAY 26 OCTOBER, 2.30PM BOOKINGS
(approx 120 min performance, including interval)

PRIMROSE POTTER SALON • WEDNESDAY 29 OCTOBER, 7PM BOOKINGS
(approx 120 min performance, including interval)

Visit FQ Digital to relive the works in this concert program, as well as bonus FQ Discover videos.

“As we celebrate our 25th anniversary we are reflecting on our identity as an Australian chamber ensemble. In this program we have chosen three works in which the composers were likely pondering similar questions. It is a joy to return to the powerful and evocative work, Bungaree, which the quartet premiered in 2020. I’m wondering, how could I not have heard of such an important historical figure as Bungaree? A figure who should be a household name. Thanks to Deborah, he is now part of my idea of Australia’s identity and Bungaree, the piece, will always be important in Flinders Quartet’s repertoire and musical identity. Australia Fair? by Bryony Marks asks us to think about very important and fundamental questions about identity. Who are we, who were we, and who do we want to be? Dvorak wrote his last chamber work, the A flat major string quartet, at the very end of his time in America. Although he was inspired by the lush prairies and woods he was introduced to there, he still found himself yearning to return to his homeland. His musical identity is so connected to his love of the landscape of his homeland, the Czech Republic.”

HELEN IRELAND, VIOLA