Sydney Art Quartet have made it their mission to present compelling programming alongside broader sensory experiences – from their project Butt Naked Salon, which saw a life-drawing model painted before them, or Remember Me, which paired each piece of music with a curated scent. 

Their latest venture, Spring Awakening, continued this multidisciplinary current. Celebrating the changing of the seasons, on showcase was the work of Sogetsu Ikebana floral artists Paulina Rosa and Junko Daniels. Their flower arrangements were prepared live on stage, and across the evening the musicians of Sydney Art Quartet – Thibaud Pavlovic Hobba, Anna Albert, Andrew Jezek and Andrew Hines – were progressively surrounded by a delicate array of florals.

Sydney Art Quartet. Photo supplied

Their program was a thoughtfully apt accompaniment – the evening opened with Mozart’s String Quartet No. 14, Spring. Light and joyous, the quartet brought a sunshine warmth to this work, detailing the intricacies of Mozart’s weaving melodic lines and capturing a playful sense of grace. 

This was followed by an effective contrast: the György Kurtág’s Aus der Ferne III, a subdued miniature commanded by the steadfast pizzicato in Hines’s cello, over which...