“superb storytelling from four great communicators”
— THE STRAD
We're delighted to be welcoming the Maxwell Quartet, recognised as one of Britain's finest quartets, to work with our pupils and those from other schools on Tuesday 10th December. Duncan Strachan and Colin Scobie, two of the Quartet, who play cello and violin respectively, both studied at St Mary's Music School so their return is particularly special.
Duncan read music at St Catherine's College, Oxford where he was a Leask Music Scholar and an Academic Scholar. He studied cello with Colin Carr, before continuing his studies at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland with Robert Irvine. Colin studied at the Royal College of Music in London, where he studied with Dona Lee Croft and Lucy Russell.
Today the Maxwell Quartet, who formed at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, have many awards and accolades behind them and are recognised as one of the finest young quartets in Britain. They claimed first prize at the 9th Trondheim International Chamber Music Competition in 2017, and were described as “brilliantly fresh, unexpected and exhilarating” by The Scottish Herald, and "superb storytelling by four great communicators" by The Strad Magazine. The Quartet maintain a strong connection to their folk music heritage and jointly share a commitment to bringing together wide-ranging projects and programmes to expand the string quartet repertoire.
The quartet performs regularly across the UK and abroad, at venues including London’s Wigmore Hall, Purcell Room, and St Martin-in-the-Fields, with performances through the Park Lane Young Artist Programme, the Tunnell Trust Awards Scheme, and the Kirckman Concert Society programme. They have also toured widely across Europe, including performances in the Tivoli Concert Hall Series, the Amsterdam String Quartet Biennale, Stavanger Festival, Trondheim Chamber Music Festival, Schiermonnikoog and Wonderfeel Festivals in the Netherlands, Lammermuir Festival and Music at Paxton in Scotland, and more.
Their debut tour of the USA in January 2019 garnered critical acclaim from the New York Times (“eloquent performers who bring the same sense of charisma and sense of adventure to their programming”), and they performed to sold out venues in New York, Florida, California and Washington.
Collaborations have included working with the Danish String Quartet to perform Scottish and Danish folk music, and working on a new commission for clarinet quintet with composer/clarinettist Mark Simpson. The Quartet's debut CD on Linn Records, featuring string quartets by Haydn alongside the quartet’s own compositions based on Scottish traditional folk music, received glowing reviews from international press.
Passionate about collaborating with musicians and other artforms, the quartet has worked with a global roster of artists and institutions including Cryptic Theatre, Wintour’s Leap, Royal Ballet School, Lunir, cinematographer Herman Kolgen and many more. The quartet has also worked with some of the UK's most dynamic composers including commissions by Anna Meredith, Tom Harrold, Mark Simpson and Colin Broom. In addition to a busy concert diary, the quartet regularly feature in broadcasts for BBC Radio 3 and BBC Radio Scotland, as well as regularly giving schools workshops and concerts for children.
The masterclass takes place on Tuesday 10th December at Palmerston Place Church in Edinburgh. It is free for young musicians and their teachers. Please book your place by contacting Mary Wall mwalls@st-marys-music-school.co.uk