quartet members

ELIZABETH SELLARS

Elizabeth Sellars is a passionate and accomplished violinist whose performances are driven by joy, curiosity, and a deep belief in music’s power to uplift and transport. With a signature sound that is nuanced, rich, and ardent, she connects audiences to a sense of wonder through her sculpted artistry.

Born in Melbourne, Elizabeth studied with Nehama Patkin (piano) and Nathan Gutman (violin), winning scholarships from the Lady Northcote Trust, the Australian Business Foundation, and the Countess of Munster Trust, among others. While refining her craft at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London under David Takeno and the Takács Quartet, Elizabeth became a member of the Techniski Quartet, with whom she won prestigious awards, including the inaugural John Tunnell Trust and the Royal Overseas League Ensemble Prize. Elizabeth also toured the UK, Europe, and Japan with the Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields.

In Australia, Elizabeth has appeared as guest Concertmaster and Principal Violin with major ensembles, including the Melbourne and Tasmanian Symphony Orchestras, Melbourne Chamber Orchestra, Orchestra Victoria, and the Australian Chamber Orchestra. She also performs and tours with the Australian World Orchestra.

A sought-after chamber musician, Elizabeth has performed for Musica Viva and at festivals worldwide. Her recordings, including The Messiaen Nexus with Kenji Fujimura (Limelight Chamber Music Recording of the Year 2014), have been published by Move, Naxos, Toccata Classics, Tzadik, and ABC Classic.

Elizabeth holds a PhD in the performance of George Frederick Pinto’s violin music. As a dedicated educator, she spent 16 years shaping the strings program at Monash University and now teaches privately and at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music. She has led workshops for the Australian String Teachers Association, the University of Auckland, the International Akaroa Music Festival, and the Pettman Junior Academy. As a juror, she has served on panels for the Australian Youth Classical Music Competition, the Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition, the Dorcas McClean Scholarship, and the National Young Performer Awards in New Zealand.

Elizabeth is a founding member of the Sutherland Trio and Quercus Trio and plays a Eugenio Degani violin (Veneto, 1876).

WILMA SMITH

Born in Fiji and raised in New Zealand, Wilma studied at the New England Conservatory in Boston with Dorothy DeLay (violin) and Louis Krasner (chamber music). She was founding First Violinist of the Lydian Quartet, winners of the Naumburg Award for Chamber Music and multiple prizes at Evian, Banff and Portsmouth International String Quartet Competitions. She also worked regularly with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and led the Harvard Chamber Orchestra and Handel and Haydn Society Orchestra before being lured back to New Zealand as founding First Violinist of the New Zealand String Quartet. Those early years of the NZSQ were marked by an extensive Australian tour for Musica Viva and a residency and performances at the Tanglewood Festival.

A long and celebrated orchestral career followed as Concertmaster of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra then the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. Currently, Wilma is Second Violinist of the Flinders Quartet, curator/violinist of her own chamber music series, Wilma & Friends, and Musica Viva Australia’s Artistic Director of Competitions, overseeing the Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition and Strike A Chord, the Australian national chamber music competition for school-aged students. In New Zealand, she serves as a Board Director of the NZSO and is Co-Artistic Director of the Martinborough Music Festival, an annual chamber music festival in which she also performs. She relishes the privilege of playing with the Australian World Orchestra at home and around the world and still enjoys guest-performing opportunities with the Australian and New Zealand orchestras. Wilma was recently presented with the 2025 Sir Bernard Heinze Award for her contribution to music in Australia.

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.