quartet members

ELIZABETH SELLARS

Joy and curiosity are central to Elizabeth Sellars’ lifelong quest to create uplifting musical performances that transcend the mundane. Drawing upon her belief that music can delve into our essence and transport us to the sublime, Elizabeth’s artistic approach is to connect audiences with wonder through sculpted sound that is nuanced, rich, warm and ardent. 

Elizabeth was born in Melbourne, Australia where her primary teachers were Nehama Patkin and Nathan Gutman; she formed her first string quartet (Birubi) under the guidance of Marco Van Pagee. The winner of multiple scholarships, Elizabeth studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London with David Takeno (violin) and the Gabrieli and Takacs Quartets (chamber music). As a member of the Techniski Quartet, Elizabeth was a winner of the inaugural John Tunnell Trust and the Royal Overseas League Ensemble Prize and Miller Trophy. She toured the UK and the Channel Islands, performed as group soloist with the Philharmonia in the Queen Elizabeth Hall and performed for the BBC. Elizabeth also played widely throughout Europe and Japan with the Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields.

In Australia Elizabeth has appeared variously as guest Concertmaster and guest Principal Violin with the Tasmanian and Melbourne Symphony Orchestras, Orchestra Victoria, Australian Chamber Orchestra, Melbourne Chamber Orchestra and the Australian Romantic and Classical Orchestra. She has also toured with the Australian World Orchestra. 

As a sought-after chamber musician, Elizabeth has performed for Musica Viva, and in festivals and on radio world-wide. Her chamber performances have been recorded and published by Move, Naxos, ABC Classic, Toccata Classics and Tzadik. In collaboration with pianist Kenji Fujimura, her CD The Messiaen was chosen as the 2014 Limelight Chamber Music Recording of the Year. Her most recent recording features Australian Horn Trios with Quercus. Future releases include the world premiere recording of works by Arthur Benjamin and William Shields.

Elizabeth is a founding member of Sutherland Trio with Caroline Almonte and Molly Kadarauch, and Quercus Trio with Carla Blackwood and Rhodri Clarke.

For 16 years, Elizabeth was Co-ordinator of Strings at Monash University where she was instrumental in developing a vibrant classical strings program. She is a frequent adjudicator and now teaches privately and at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music. 

Elizabeth plays on a Eugenio Degani violin made in Veneto 1876.

WILMA SMITH

Wilma Smith is Artistic Director and violinist of Wilma & Friends, a chamber music series based in Melbourne and presenting concerts throughout Australia and New Zealand. She is also Musica Viva’s Artistic Director of the Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition and the new National Chamber Music Championship. Wilma teaches violin and chamber music at the University of Melbourne, Scotch College and Korowa Anglican Girls’ School.

Wilma was born in Fiji and raised in New Zealand. She studied in Boston at the New England Conservatory with the legendary Dorothy DeLay and Louis Krasner then was founding First Violinist of the Lydian String Quartet, winners of the Naumburg Award for Chamber Music and multiple prizes at the Evian, Banff and Portsmouth International String Quartet Competitions. She was Concertmaster of the Harvard Chamber Orchestra and Handel and Haydn Society, and performed regularly with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Boston Pops Orchestra.  

Invited to return home to form the New Zealand String Quartet, Wilma was First Violinist until she was appointed Concertmaster of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, a position she held for nine years before moving to Melbourne to be Concertmaster of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra from 2003 to 2014. Wilma has also appeared as Guest Concertmaster with Sydney, Adelaide, West Australian, and Tasmanian Symphony Orchestras, Queensland Festival Philharmonic, Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra and Orchestra Wellington.  

Wilma plays a violin by Giovanni Battista Guadagnini made in 1761, in Parma, Italy; using a bow by Victor Fetique, Paris, France, ca. 1920.

HELEN IRELAND

Originally from Adelaide, Helen has made Melbourne her home since moving in 2000 to attend the Australian National Academy of Music. That year turned out to be extremely auspicious because as well as the fantastic opportunities ANAM provided, Flinders Quartet was born. A graduate of the Canberra School of Music, Helen was awarded the Erica Haas Prize for chamber music. Since attending Marryatville High School and playing in a string quartet, to be the violist in a quartet was always her dream. Alongside playing as much chamber music as she could, Helen participated in several Australian Youth Orchestra tours, becoming principal viola of the Camerata in 1998. In 1996, Helen was a finalist in the viola competition at the International Winter School for Strings. Helen has worked with many leading Australian orchestras, including the Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra and the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra. She plays regularly with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and Orchestra Victoria where she has been guest principal and associate principal. Helen is qualified as a Feldenkrais practitioner and whilst not currently practising, it profoundly influences her viola playing.

Helen is a founding member of Flinders Quartet, and plays a 1939 A.E. Smith viola and a bow made by Charles Bazin.