Flinders Quartet at Montsalvat – Musical Portraits

‘To hear someone painted in sound is the most intimate portrait.’ Zoe Knighton

Shostakovich’s incredibly powerful String Quartet No.8 was officially dedicated ‘to the memory of the victims of fascism and war’ but there is much to suggest that Shostakovich meant it as a musical self-portrait.

Smetana’s String Quartet No.1 ‘From My Life’ is a different type of musical portrait, taking us on a vivid, programmatic journey through young love, and the devastation of tinnitus. In discussing these works, Flinders Quartet began to be curious about how a composer would capture their essence and have commissioned Tasmanian composer Maria Grenfell to paint them in sound. It will be illuminating for Flinders Quartet to perform their very own musical portrait for audiences and look into the musical mirror to see themselves in music.