First violin and violist will part ways with the all-female group at the end of the 2011 season.

The Australian String Quartet (ASQ) today announced that its 2011 season will be the last in its current line-up. Violinist Sophie Rowell and violist Sally Boud will be leaving following the ensemble’s performances at the Huntington Estate Music Festival in November, with Anne Horton (violin) and Rachel Johnston (cello) to remain ASQ members. An international search to replace the two outgoing players is underway.

Rowell, one of the most sought-after violinists in Australia, made the decision to leave in order to focus on a solo career. “I have enjoyed 12 wonderful years with the quartet, five of those as the ASQ. It’s been an absolutely amazing musical journey. While I am excited by the new opportunities that are to come for me personally, I am first and foremost looking forward to a fantastic year of incredible music throughout the 2011 ASQ season”, she said of her impending departure. She has had solo engagements with all Australia’s state orchestras and in 1999 was awarded Second Prize in the International Mozart Competition in Salzburg.

It is for family commitments and to spend more time...