About Us
Australian String Quartet
(Pictured Left to Right)
Sophie Rowell – Violin
Rachel Johnston – Cello
Sally Boud – Viola
Anne Horton – Violin
Sophie Rowell – Violin
Rachel Johnston – Cello
Sally Boud – Viola
Anne Horton – Violin
The Australian String Quartet (ASQ) was established in 1985 and is Quartet-in-Residence at the Elder Conservatorium of Music at The University of Adelaide. It tours both nationally and internationally, and has had a major impact on the musical life of Australia.
The current membership of Sophie Rowell and Anne Horton, violins, Sally Boud, viola, and Rachel Johnston, cello was established in 2006. This combination of players originally came together as the Tankstream Quartet and was coached by Alice Waten at the Australian Institute of Music in Sydney. This ASQ is the only Australian group to have been participants in the prestigious chamber music class of the Alban Berg Quartet at the Cologne Hochschule für Musik, and also holds the distinction of having won more international chamber music competitions than any other ensemble in Australian history including First Prize at the 2005 Cremona International String Quartet Competition, the Gold Medal in the 2002 Osaka International Chamber Music Competition (Japan), first place in the 2001 Australian Chamber Music Competition, and Second Prize in the Paolo Borciani International String Quartet Competition in Italy in 2005.
The ASQ has performed in many major European cities including Hamburg, Berlin, Paris, London, Copenhagen, Cologne, Belgrade, Budapest, Zagreb, Frankfurt, Reggio Emilia (Italy), and throughout Australia, Germany, New Zealand and Japan. It was selected to perform the celebratory concerts for the Danish Royal Wedding in May 2004. The Quartet has been broadcast extensively in Australia on ABC Classic FM and has been featured on NDR (North German Radio), the BBC and Radio France, and televised in Austria, Australia, Denmark and Japan.
Throughout its history, the ASQ has commissioned and premiered new works by leading Australian composers, including Andrew Ford, Graeme Koehne, Elena Kats-Chernin, Roger Smalley and Charles Bodman Rae, and in 2008 performs works by Peter Sculthorpe, Richard Meale, Miriam Hyde and Ross Edwards.
The ASQ has performed in many major European cities including Hamburg, Berlin, Paris, London, Copenhagen, Cologne, Belgrade, Budapest, Zagreb, Frankfurt, Reggio Emilia (Italy), and throughout Australia, Germany, New Zealand and Japan. It was selected to perform the celebratory concerts for the Danish Royal Wedding in May 2004. The Quartet has been broadcast extensively in Australia on ABC Classic FM and has been featured on NDR (North German Radio), the BBC and Radio France, and televised in Austria, Australia, Denmark and Japan.
Throughout its history, the ASQ has commissioned and premiered new works by leading Australian composers, including Andrew Ford, Graeme Koehne, Elena Kats-Chernin, Roger Smalley and Charles Bodman Rae, and in 2008 performs works by Peter Sculthorpe, Richard Meale, Miriam Hyde and Ross Edwards.
