Sunday 20 June

 Charmian Keay, Edith Salzmann, Miranda Adams, Robert Ashworth.

The Jade String Quartet, formed in 2003, are committed to the performance of great music whether it be old masterpieces or new works. They have a CD of New Zealand works on the Rattle label, they have toured for Chamber Music New Zealand and they have their own concert series, “Jade at the Pah”. They have won a special place in NZ’s music scene as a group that can cater for both young and old, traditional and modern tastes alike.

Based in Auckland,two of the quartet’s members hold principal positions in the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra. German cellist Edith Salzmann, in high demand internationally as a teacher, soloist, and chamber musician, is a Senior Lecturer in Music at the University of Auckland. 

Second Violinist William Hanfling has withdrawn from this tour due to family health concerns and will be replaced by Charmian Keay, a freelance violinist currently on contract with the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra. She also plays for Orchestra Wellington and is a casual violinist for the NZ Symphony Orchestra.

Their programme opens with selections from Haydn’s Seven Last Words of Christ, one of the composer’s most profound works, commissioned in 1786 for the Good Friday service in Cádiz, Spain. The second half of the programme features a truly iconic work for string quartet, Schubert’s “Death and the Maiden” which has been described as “one of the pillars of the chamber music repertoire”. It is named after the composer’s own song which has lent its theme to the second movement.