Flinders Quartet

Flinders Quartet is instantly recognisable as one of Australia’s most loved chamber music ensembles. A quartet for the twenty-first century, it approaches its third decade with acknowledged musical skill and maturity. The group’s dynamic and stirring performances of a full spectrum of repertoire have audiences and critics articulating their esteem, and the quartet is a highly respected force in Australian chamber music.

In 2016, the quartet launched its Composer Development Program, working to further the career of emerging Australian composers. Its 2020 season includes the premieres of new works by Katy Abbott, Deborah Cheetham AO, and emerging composer Ella Macens.

The quartet is regularly invited to perform and tour for chamber music presenters such as Musica Viva Australia, and is in demand at festivals throughout Australia often in association with some of the country’s finest talents, including Slava Grigoryan, Kristian Chong, Ian Munro, Paul Dean, Karin Schaupp, Genevieve Lacey and Jayson Gillham. International engagements have taken the quartet to the UK, Singapore, Canada, and most recently, Sweden and Finland, where it was invited to perform the complete string quartets by Sibelius.

Flinders Quartet has a unique and refreshing ability to present an exceptional standard of classical music in a way that feels warm and human.

Classic Melbourne

Performing as part of…

Flinders Quartet

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Thibaud Pavlovic-Hobba

Violin

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Thibaud, an Australian-French violinist, was born in Tasmania. He began playing the violin after receiving it as his fifth birthday present. He studied in Tasmania under Peter Tanfield and he also attended the Australian National Academy of Music where he studied with Paul Wright and Bill Hennessy.

Wilma Smith

Violin

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Wilma Smith is Artistic Director and violinist of Wilma & Friends, a chamber music series based in Melbourne and presenting concerts throughout Australia and New Zealand. She is also Musica Viva’s Artistic Director of the Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition and the new National Chamber Music Championship. Wilma teaches violin and chamber music at the University of Melbourne, Scotch College and Korowa Anglican Girls’ School.

Helen Ireland

Viola

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Helen has worked with many leading Australian orchestras, including the Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra and the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra. She plays regularly with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and Orchestra Victoria where she has been guest principal and associate principal. Helen is qualified as a Feldenkrais practitioner and whilst not currently practising, it profoundly influences her viola playing. Helen is a founding member of Flinders Quartet, and plays a 1939 A.E. Smith viola and a bow made by Charles Bazin.

Zoe Knighton

Cello

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After starting cello at the age of nine with Jill Kahans, and graduating from the University of Melbourne with the highest mark of her year, Zoe went on to establish herself as one of the country’s most sought after cellists. Having studied with Christian Wojtowicz, Michel Strauss (Paris) Nelson Cooke, and Angela Seargeant, she is now in demand as chamber coach and teacher at various institutions. A regular panelist for major competitions, Zoe combines many facets of her career with performing

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