On Saturday 9 March, the Goldner String Quartet sets out on what will be its final tour. After 30 years of music-making, it is fitting, given the players’ deep connections to the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, that the ensemble will begin and end its farewell season in the Con’s premiere venue, Verbrugghen Hall.

This, after all, is the room in which the Goldners performed one of its major musical feats: the complete Beethoven Cycle of 17 string quartets played over three weeks in 2004. The concerts were recorded by ABC Classics and went on to win the Limelight Award for Best Classical Recording.

The Goldner String Quartet. Photo © Andrew Rankin

Celebration: Goldner String Quartet and Composers of the Sydney Conservatorium is a showcase of the ensemble’s relationship with many of Australia’s leading composers, including Peter Sculthorpe, Ross Edwards, Carl Vine, Matthew Hindson, Liza Lim, Ella Macens and Paul Stanhope.

Hindson says that the Goldner String Quartet is “without doubt one of the best music groups in Australia”.

“They always give such an intense, thrilling and convincing performance. So many composers have been lucky to have had the opportunity to write new...