O U R S T O R Y

FOUR FRIENDS - ONE PASSION

United by their passion for chamber music, the Enigma Quartet has a pure and joyful love for what they do and how they share it with audiences.

Comprised of successful artists in their own right, and holding coveted positions in Australia's top orchestras, they choose to learn, play and perform together because they love doing it and have far too much fun together.

Their journey has been an organic progression from music students busking on the streets of Sydney over ten years ago to persistent study, growth and development that has seen the quartet carve out an enviable reputation as one of Australia's best.

They were mentored by Musica Viva under their Rising Stars program in 2012 and have performed at Australia's prestigious Huntington Chamber Music Festival, commissioned new works from leading Australian composers and will soon release their debut CD with ABC Classics.

H I G H L I G H T S

FESTIVALS

Bermagui Four Winds 2019, Vivid Sydney, Huntington Estate, Musica Viva Chamber Festival, Bellingen, Pearl Beach, Chopin International Piano Competition

COLLABORATIONS

Riley Lee shakuhachi, Emma Matthews soprano, Kirsty McCahon double bass, Christina Leonard saxaphone, Frank Celata clarinet, Jack Schiller bassoon, Arcadia Winds ensemble, Amyrillis Quartet Germany, Bobby Singh tabla

WORLD PREMIERES

Ross Edwards, Lachlan Skipworth, Anne Boyd, Stuart Greenbaum, Alice Chance, David Hirschfelder, Katy Abbott, Holly Harrison, Andrew Howes, Gerard Brophy, Phillip Jameson

CONCERTS

Musica Viva Coffee Concerts Sydney, Independent Theatre Prelude in Tea, ABC Sunday Live, Mozart Schubert & Blue Mountains music societies, The Standard Taylors Square, Wayside Chapel

CONTEMPORARY MUSIC

Album strings for Passenger (including 'Let Her Go' which has over two billion views on YouTube), Human Nature, Stu Larsen, 77 Bombay St

REGIONAL CONCERTS

Blue Mountains, Denilliquin, Batemans Bay, Coffs Harbour, Port Macquarie, Singleton, Grafton, Newcastle, Canberra

MENTORS & MASTERCLASSES

Goldner String Quartet, Takacs Quartet, Enso Quartet, St Lawrence Quartet, Andrew Haveron

TO READ FULL BIO CLICK HERE

M E E T T H E Q U A R T E T

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AT A GLANCE

MARIANNE EDWARDS violin

Associate Principal Second Violin in the Sydney Symphony

Has a PhD from Sydney University

Previously member of First Violins in the Sydney Symphony

Has performed & toured internationally with ACO & was an Emerging Artist

Won Kendall National Violin Competition & Australian Concerto and Vocal Comp, Second Prize at Gisborne International Music Comp

Taught Orchestral Studies at the Con High School for years

Studied with Wanda Wilkomirska, Barbara Gilby, Alice Waten & Igor Ozim

String Finalist in ABC Young Performers Award & played solo with Queensland and Melbourne Symphony Orchestras

KERRY MARTIN violin

Performs with the Australian Opera Ballet Orchestra

Hails from NZ and won the New Zealand National Concerto Competition

Plays casually for SSO and ACO Education

Holds Masters of Music with Distinction from AIM

Prizewinner at Gisborne International Music Comp

Founded ARCO chamber orchetra and teaches at Con High School & Australian Institute of Music

Studied Alice Waten & Jan Tawroszewicz (Warsaw Quartet), David Takeno and Feliz Andrievsky

Performed as soloist with Christchurch Symphony Orchestra, Christchurch Youth Orchestra and Sydney Chamber Orchestra

ELIZABETH WOOLNOUGH viola

Performs with the Australian Chamber Orchestra and was an Emerging Artist

Is a member of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra viola section

Plays causally with the Sydney Symphony and was in the Fellowship training program

Has a Bachelor of Music degree from the Sydney Conservatorium where she studied with Roger Benedict

Violist in Hillel Quartet who won the Westheimer Scholarship and performed in the String Quartet Biennial at the Philharmonie du Paris

Performs with the Australian World Orchestra and was part of the AWO Chamber Music Festival in the Southern Highlands

Plays with the Melbourne Symphony Chamber Players and the Melbourne Ensemble

ROWENA MACNEISH cello

Performs with the Sydney Symphony & Australian Opera Ballet Orchestra and Australian Chamber Orchestra

Full scholarship to undertake postgraduate study at the Royal Academy of Music in London with David Strange

Member of the Southbank Sinfonia in London and performed at Covent Garden, Queen Elizabeth Hall and festivals throughout Europe

Sydney Symphony Fellowship program

Founding member of the Sydney Omega Ensemble

Studied at Australian National Academy of Music in Melbourne with Nelson Cooke and Michael Goldschlager

Has a Bachelor of Music from Sydney Conservatorium studying with Susan Blake

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