Acacia String Quartet

Violinists Lisa Stewart and Myee Clohessy, violist Stefan Duwe and cellist Anna Martin-Scrase brought this Sydney group together in 2010, following separate years spent in orchestras and chamber ensembles around the world. Their concerts pair familiar repertoire with less expected choices, among them debut readings of new compositions, and they have joined forces with soprano Jane Sheldon, bassoonist Kim Walker, singer-songwriter Katie Noonan, the vocal group Halcyon, and composers Elena Kats-Chernin, Gordon Kerry and Lyle Chan. After Kats-Chernin encountered their playing of her music in 2011, she asked them to record her full body of string quartet writing; the resulting world premiere recording was made with the composer present. The group’s recordings include the double disc 'Blue Silence', devoted entirely to those Kats-Chernin works, and 'North + South', a set of ten folk songs recorded alongside Jane Sheldon and Genevieve Lang.