Long before he laboured for three years over the six string quartets – his “children” – dedicated to Joseph Haydn, WA Mozart had flirted with the form since he was 14.

He wrote his fourth in C major, the K157, as he was just turning 17 and this work featured as the introduction to Phoenix Collective’s Sydney Opera House debut in the intimate Utzon Room.

The Sydney-based group – lead violin and Artistic Director Dan Russell, Pip Thompson, violin, Ella Brinch, viola, and cellist Andrew Wilson – was formed in 2018 and has built up a loyal following with their tours of Sydney, Canberra, Newcastle and the Central Coast, including concerts for the homeless and vulnerable at the Wayside Chapel in Kings Cross.

Phoenix Quartet, Utzon Room, Sydney Opera House. Photo © Daniel Lopez

They have an eclectic repertoire, combining mainstream classics with imaginative contemporary works, and are happy to blur the edges with American or Scandinavian folk music and new takes on pop songs by Taylor Swift and Daft Punk among others. In short they aim to give concerts that “excite and inspire”,...