Australian String Quartet Annual Report 2019
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AUSTRALIAN STRING QUARTET ANNUAL REPORT 2019 CONTENTS 04 A Message from the Chair – A Year in Review 05 A Message from the Chief Executive – Thank You AUSTRALIAN STRING QUARTET 06 2019 Highlights – Key Statistics 07 Artistic Review 08 ASQ Live 08 Live Performance Programs 10 Mornings at UKARIA 11 Elder Hall Lunchtime Concerts 12 Close Quarters 13 Other Performances 14 Collaborations 17 Commissions & Guest Artists 18 Quartet & Country 20 ASQ Festivals 22 ASQ Learning 24 ASQ Digital 27 ASQ Community 28 Our Supporters 30 Governance & Our Team 31 Key Stakeholders OUR PURPOSE To create chemistry and amplify intimacy. OUR ARTISTIC VISION To be one of the world’s finest string quartets, a leader in musical excellence distinguished by our unique Australian accent and celebrated for our ability to create, connect and inspire. OUR OBJECTIVES Excellence as our leading edge We will position artistic excellence at the forefront of everything we do. Creative minds open for business We will foster creativity in our everyday work as artists and arts managers. Engaging people at the heart We will create opportunities for meaningful engagement with people of all ages. A strong brand for the future We will future-proof our organisation by building a strong brand. Champions for sounds Australian We will nurture opportunities to champion the sounds of Australia. OUR VISION FOR THE FUTURE To be a string quartet for all Australians. 3 A MESSAGE FROM A MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE A YEAR IN REVIEW THANK YOU Writing this in the second quarter of 2020, the 2019 year During 2019, we were very active in building our online Looking back at 2019, it is affirming to reflect upon what we seems far away. It would be fair to say that the two years presence, something which has stood us in good stead as we have achieved together as a community united by a passion to the end of last year were the best in the history of the have been facing the challenges of 2020. I would encourage for music and its intrinsic value in everyday life. Australian String Quartet (ASQ). During 2019, we presented you to look at what we have available on our website. On behalf of all of the team at the Australian String Quartet, over 100 high-quality performances, and these included our Particularly look at the amazing short video of highlights of I am pleased to share with you a brief report to celebrate our experimenting and innovating in where and how we engaged our last year’s activities. I am sure you will be impressed to see collective achievements and to thank you for the vital part you with audiences and supporters. It is pleasing we were able to what the Quartet did during the year. have played to help amplify our reach. do all this and to also report a modest surplus for the year. For most of us, we see the ASQ through the events we attend. From our home base at the University of Adelaide’s Elder The significant achievements of the year, both artistic What we do not see is the extent of the engagement the ASQ Conservatorium of Music, we have delivered an extraordinary and organisational, are a tribute both to our very talented has with so many people in communities in all sorts of venues year of musical endeavour. Our achievements are a testament musicians and to our small, dedicated management team. across the country. It not only entertains but also contributes to the magnitude of creativity, generosity, vision and support Their efforts have been outstanding, and the results are significantly to the cohesion of our society. We are determined extended through our family of ASQ supporters – beginning there to see. Our national Board of Directors was active to build on this – more music, more collaborations, more and with our dedicated board led by Chair Nicholas Callinan AO, throughout the year and contributed significantly to the different venues, more residencies and education, and more our staff and volunteers, our Patron Maria Myers AC, and our governance and robustness of the ASQ as an organisation. experimentation and innovation as we build the audiences of instrument partner UKARIA – and extending to our valued Mrs Maria Myers AC has been very active in her role as our tomorrow. All this in a new world we do not yet understand. network of government partners, private donors, foundations, Patron and we are most grateful to her for all her support We will need your support. corporate partners and supporters. Together, we have during the year. Later in the year, the Board welcomed one Best wishes to you all. made great art and championed great artists, created and new director, Mrs Janet McLachlan, and farewelled Mrs participated in meaningful music programs to engage with Jeanette Sandford-Morgan OAM, who retired after 18 years Nicholas Callinan AO global audiences, and connected with diverse communities of significant contribution to our development, in recognition Chair across Australia. of which she was appointed our first Life Member. Australian String Quartet As we pursue our vision to become a string quartet for all Our performances nationally and internationally, our Australians, we recognise the significant contribution of every educational engagement and our commissioning and person that has been part of our ASQ journey over these past presentation of Australian compositions were all highly 35 years. From our founding members, to the many musicians, acclaimed by audiences and critics. As the revenue from these managers and supporters who have helped pave the way – activities produces only a third of our income for the year, as we say thank you. always, we have relied on you, our supporters, and donors, to keep us going. We are most grateful to all of you for your Last of all, I wish to express my personal thanks to our support. We are particularly grateful to the University of musicians and artistic directors – Dale, Francesca, Stephen Adelaide, where the quartet is in residence, for its significant and Sharon for their commitment and dedication to support in several forms. Our major corporate sponsor, continuing the legacy of this incredible organisation. We are Clayton Utz, has been a valuable partner and an input to in good hands. creative ways of bringing our music to new audiences. We are, Warm wishes of course, very appreciative of the financial contributions of the Government of South Australia and the Australia Council Angelina Zucco for the Arts, both of whose intelligent, multi-year commitments Chief Executive have been essential to our progress. Australian String Quartet 4 Foreword 5 2019 HIGHLIGHTS KEY STATISTICS ARTISTIC REVIEW A YEAR OF ARTISTIC ENDEAVOUR another sell-out season of our morning concert series. We are immensely fortunate to be the custodians of four matched In 2019 we ventured across our beautiful country Guadagnini instruments, on generous loan from UKARIA several times through our National Season tours, and we thank them for providing these instruments for our ASQ Festivals, Close Quarters concerts, collaborations exclusive use. and education programs. 23,253 Our artistic endeavours extended across new performance TOTAL ATTENDANCE Among our highlights for the year, our flagship ASQ Festivals formats – from our collaboration with Post Dining on a unique provided an ideal environment to savour intimate music interactive music and food experience, to our recording performances with our loyal supporters. 2019 saw the initiatives which celebrated Australian music, both here and continuation of these festivals in Dunkeld, VIC and abroad. In 2019, our artistic output substantially built upon Margaret River, WA with guest artists Li-Wei Qin, cello, the success and growth of the ASQ and we thank all of our and Konstantin Shamray, piano, together with a brand-new generous supporters for helping us in our mission to share festival in Queenstown, New Zealand, with the generous music across Australia. support of Michael Hill. We look forward to seeing you soon. 25 585 Further broadening our reach, we were invited to participate WORKSHOPS WORKSHOP PARTICIPANTS in major festivals across Australia that afforded us the Dale, Francesca, Stephen & Sharon opportunity to work with an incredible array of artists. We wholeheartedly extend our thanks and appreciation to the Australian Festival of Chamber Music, Musica Viva Australia, Pic ture d L–R the Queensland Music Festival and the Four Winds Festival for Dale Barltrop plays a 1784 PREMIERES OF NEW AUSTRALIAN WORKS their generous hospitality. Guadagnini Violin, Turin Throughout the year, we undertook numerous collaborative Sharon Grigoryan plays a c.1743 NIGEL WESTLAKE Guadagnini Violoncello, Piacenza, ‘Ngeringa’ String Quartet no 3 Sacred Sky initiatives with leading artists, such as Katie Noonan’s 107 76 33 recording and touring project, The Glad Tomorrow. In Stephen King plays a 1783 PERFORMANCES DIFFERENT WORKS WORKS BY AUSTRALIAN KATE MOORE collaboration with leading presenters the Adelaide Festival Guadagnini Viola, Turin PERFORMED COMPOSERS String Quartet no 3 Cicadidae Centre and Melbourne Recital Centre, we continued the highly Francesca Hiew plays a 1748–49 successful Quartet & Country collaborations with First Nations Guadagnini Violin, Piacenza musicians William Barton, Stephen Pigram and Dr Lou Bennett AM. Closer to home, at the University of Adelaide’s Elder Conservatorium of Music, we were excited to host a week-long residency with Arcadia Winds and bassist Stephen Newton, in addition to our year-long program of 14 1 2 4.7 MILLION activity on campus. Here in South Australia, we continued RADIO BROADCASTS TV BROADCAST WORLD PREMIERES POTENTIAL REACH OF RADIO BROADCASTS our special relationship with UKARIA Cultural Centre in 6 Artistic Review 7 ASQ performing at Melbourne Recital Centre. ASQ performing at Adelaide Town Hall. ASQ LIVE Photo by Sam Jozeps.