New Zealand String Quartet - National Tour 2021 in Marlborough

The National Tour 2021 will see the New Zealand String Quartet perform across Aotearoa during August and September, presenting eleven concerts in nine regions and in the finest historic venues, churches and intimate concert halls.

Immerse yourself in astounding beauty, inspire your senses, and fire your curiosity through four centuries of glorious music, presented in two ingeniously crafted programmes…

Programme 1 features the warmth of Haydn’s ‘Sunrise’ Quartet as the perfect overture to the tui calls of the Marlborough Sounds that inspired Gareth Farr’s Te Koanga. Ligeti’s stimulating String Quartet No. 1, ‘Métamorphoses nocturnes’, brings contrasts of light and dark, before the ever-popular Dvořák’s String Quartet Op. 51.  Programme 2 sweeps from the sounds of late Mozart to contemporary NZ composer Louise Webster’s nostalgic this memory of earth. Following Shostakovich’s emotive and impassioned String Quartet No. 11 is Mendelssohn’s String Quartet No. 2, Op. 13 – culminating in an irresistible finale.

Programme 1

(Hamilton, Devonport, Blenheim, Wellington - Public Trust Hall)

Haydn String Quartet Opus 76 No. 4 ('Sunrise')

Gareth Farr Te Koanga

Ligeti String Quartet No. 1 (‘Métamorphoses nocturnes’)

Dvořák String Quartet No. 10, Op. 51

Programme 2

(Martinborough, Tauranga, Auckland, Nelson, Napier, Wellington - Victoria University Hunter Council Chamber)

Mozart String Quartet No. 21, K. 575

Louise Webster this memory of earth

Shostakovich String Quartet No. 11, Op. 122

Mendelssohn String Quartet No. 2, Op. 13

Now in its 34th year, the New Zealand String Quartet is well known for its imaginative programming and dynamic performing style. Much-loved by audiences at home and around the world, the Quartet performs over eighty concerts to popular and critical acclaim each year. The ensemble is Quartet-in-Residence at the New Zealand School of Music Te Kōkī, Victoria University of Wellington.

The New Zealand String Quartet’s National Tour 2021 celebrates a significant milestone this season, marking the 20th year of its proud association with principal sponsor, Turnovsky Endowment Trust.

Thank you to all our funding partners and sponsors, with special thanks to Creative NZ, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand School of Music Te Kōkī, Turnovsky Endowment Trust, Adam Foundation, Cloudy Bay NZ, and Lion Foundation.