Partridge String Quartet

Partridge String Quartet

Mana Ohashi violin
Jos Jonker violin
Eunise Cheng viola
Daniel Smith cello

Known for their vibrant and exhilarating performances, the award-winning Partridge String Quartet has recently emerged as one of Australia’s leading string quartets of its generation.

As an ensemble that strives to bring joy and excitement to their audiences, the string quartet is passionate about performing well-loved masterpieces while inviting audiences to join their curiosity and exploration of the limitless possibilities that the string quartet genre has to offer.

PROGRAM

Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART (1756–1791)
String Quartet No. 23, K. 590

Holly HARRISON (b.1988)
Fluro Electric

Maurice RAVEL (1875-1937)
String Quartet in F major (1904)

Concert run time: approx. 80min, with interval

About the Artists

The Partridge String Quartet was formed at the Australian National Academy of Music in 2017 and comprises violinists Mana Ohashi and Jos Jonker, violist Eunise Cheng and cellist Daniel Smith. They have received national recognition as first prize winners of the inaugural 2019 Queensland International Chamber Music Competition, the 2018 ANAM Chamber Music Competition, and the Musica Viva Chamber Music Prize (2017).

During their studies at ANAM, the quartet was selected as one of ten string quartets internationally for a three-week program at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity in Canada. In June 2022, they attended the Curtis Institute of Music for a string quartet course with the Dover Quartet, supported by the Curtis Institute, the Ernest Llewllyn Memorial Trust and Musica Viva Australia.

They are passionate educators and have undertaken residencies at the Orange and Coffs Harbour Regional Conservatoriums, presenting masterclasses and working with large and small ensembles. In 2024, they were artists in residence at Monash University, tutoring chamber ensembles and collaborating with the Monash Academy Orchestra, followed by a return to Sydney where they shared performances with the Australian String Quartet for the production Twofold in collaboration with Sydney Dance Company.

As Musica Viva Australia ‘FutureMakers’ (2020–2022), they worked with leading artists across disciplines, culminating in two video productions of George Crumb’s Black Angels (2023). They have performed at the Port Fairy Spring Festival (2019, 2022), Canberra International Music Festival (2021), and other projects around Australia featured on the Violin Channel, CutCommon, Limelight and The Strad.