Off the springboard of its recent 40th birthday bash, the Australian String Quartet (ASQ) has announced its 2026 season. Two national tours, two festivals and a handful of accomplished guest musicians define a musical year that “brims with personality”, according to ASQ violist Chris Cartlidge.

The Australian String Quartet. Credit © Simple

“At its heart, a string quartet is a conversation. Four voices listening and responding to one another, creating something greater than any one of us alone. Each performance is a chance to bring that conversation to life, inviting you to become part of the music we create together,” he said.

“We can’t wait to share this journey with you next year, wherever we meet – in a concert hall, at a festival, or somewhere completely unexpected.”

The ASQ’s two national tours travel to Perth, Sydney, Adelaide, Mount Barker, Canberra, Brisbane and Melbourne across the season.

The first tour, Interwoven (11–21 May), borrows its title from Australian composer Elizabeth Younan’s First String Quartet, a work tightly packed with polyphony. It’s paired with Prokofiev’s Second Quartet, Clara Schumann’s Variations on a Theme by Robert Schumann and Haydn’s String Quartet in A Major for a varied and colourful program.

The Australian String Quartet: Convergence. Photo © Kane Moroney

Garth Knox‘s cosmic Satellites, a work commissioned by the Kronos Quartet, opens the ASQ’s second tour, Voyager. Exploring the limits of the string quartet as a musical medium, the lineup also includes Bartók’s String Quartet No. 4 and Beethoven’s String Quartet in B-flat major.

The Dunkeld Festival of Music is back in 2026 beginning 25 March with pianist Andrea Lam, violinist Dimity Hall and cellist Julian Smiles joining the ASQ as guest performers. Offering chamber concerts, a picnic lunch and opportunities to socialise, the festival is a rich weekend of music and community.

The ASQ’s “newest bespoke festival”, the Barossa Weekend of Music, returns across 18–20 September after its 2024 debut. Joined by vocalist and 2025 AIR Award winner Parvyn Kaur Singh and multi-instrumentalist Josh Bennett, the quartet offers two days of fine music across a variety of venues in one of Australia’s most popular wine regions.

The ASQ will also announce further programming during 2026.

More about the Australian String Quartet’s 2026 season can be found here.