St Lawrence String Quartet and Diana Doherty

Sat 21 Apr ,

Music

Critics' choice

First published on 6 Dec 2011. Updated on 22 Apr 2012.

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Star Sydney oboist Diana Doherty is famous for her physical performances – so physical, in fact, one composer even wrote a dance for her. The St Lawrence Quartet have been winning acclaim for their precise, dynamic performances since their beginnings in 1989 and today are the Ensemble in Residence at California's Stanford University. The two join forces for this special tour, and both sides are delighted to be sharing the stage.

"Diana is a perfect combination of unbridled enthusiasm and focus and incredible control," says St Lawrence's first violinist Geoff Nuttall. "With her, the oboe disappears and you just notice the music."

Doherty shares the love, saying the group "really think about how to do things in a fresh way."

The unique classical combination will bring that fresh approach to a programme that includes Haydn, Beethoven and Dvorak, but also take on the work of Australian composers Gordon Kerry and Matthew Hindson. Doherty and the quartet will perform Kerry's Elegy for String Quartet (2007), which he wrote as his mother battled illness and died. Gordon says, "My mother lived a long and active life, so while the piece is tinged with grief it also has elements of celebration."

Drawing from old and new pieces, the dynamic pairing is a classical event not to be missed.

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