Australian String Quartet Performs South Australian Concerts

In partnership with Nexus Arts, the Australian String Quartet (ASQ) will perform a series of exclusive South Australian concerts with internationally acclaimed shamisen (a 3-string traditional Japanese instrument) virtuoso Noriko Tadano promising an intercultural musical experience like no other.

The highly anticipated June concerts will showcase the awe-inspiring talents of the now Adelaide-based Tadano as a solo artist as well as performances from the internationally acclaimed ASQ in some of South Australia’s most iconic locations - Aldinga, Mt. Barker and Port Adelaide.

South Australian audiences will have the opportunity to see Tadano and the ASQ in close quarters as they present a selection of works for string quartet and shamisen. The program will feature Tadano’s own original works, Vertigo and Staircase to the Moon, in their first arrangements for shamisen and string quartet.

The ASQ will mesmerise audiences with a selection of works including the Scherzando from the first of Beethoven’s late quartets, String Quartet No.12—regarded as one of his most mysterious and revelatory works. The ASQ will also perform Essay No.1, Nimrod from Grammy Award-winning contemporary American composer Caroline Shaw.

For ASQ Violinist Francesca Hiew this collaboration is a rare and special opportunity to unite two traditions of string playing from across the globe in South Australia.

“To be able to collaborate with a highly regarded master shamisen player who also shares the same home as the quartet is incredibly rare. Noriko is an artist that we have great admiration for, so to have the opportunity to experience her playing live, but to perform some of her original works to include string quartet is very exciting.

“We are thrilled to be presenting this collaboration exclusively in South Australia at our local champions of culture, Big Easy Radio, UKARIA and Vitalstatistix”, Hiew said.

For Noriko Tadano the opportunity to perform with the ASQ is a great honor and a real sense of occasion.

“It is especially rewarding to be able to perform my original compositions with such an esteemed group of musicians. For these concerts, my aim is to immerse myself and seamlessly connect with the quartet as well as invite the audience to be part of a unique collaboration between western classical and Japanese shamisen music”, Tadano said.

Nexus Arts CEO and Artistic Director and South Australian composer-arranger Emily Tulloch worked directly with Tadano to reimagine her works for string quartet.

“I’m delighted to have translated Noriko’s ideas to the page, and to offer some of my own from my experience in the Zephyr Quartet for 15 years. Noriko has been a friend of Nexus Arts for many years, and I’ve worked with her in many contexts, but it’s been wonderful to have the chance to work with her in this different artistic capacity”, Tulloch said.

For more information on ASQ X Noriko Tadano: Synthesis and to purchase tickets please visit: https://asq.com.au/whats-on

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