Flourishing within Canberra’s rich musical landscape, the Grevillea Quartet was formed in 2018 with a clear mission to enrich the cultural tapestry of the region by bringing world-class, intimate chamber music performance directly to local communities.

Sharing great music throughout the region, they have performed on stages ranging from Parliament House to festivals, Goulburn, Young and Braidwood; and now the ensemble is thrilled to bring their artistic energy to town for their official Cooma debut this month.

On Sunday 20 September, Snowy Monaro Arts Council will host a recital starting at 2pm.

The quartet brings together four exceptionally brilliant and versatile artists, each with a distinguished career:

Violinist, Vaness Driver, graduated with an honours degree from the Canberra School of Music (ANU), toured Europe with the Australian Youth Orchestra European Tour in 2004, and went on to perform with the Wien Yung Philharmony in Vienna.

Back in Australia, Vanessa has built a robust performance portfolio, including playing extensively with the Canberra Symphony Orchestra.

An exceptionally versatile artist, she balances elite classical orchestral and chamber work with leading original projects, including her Indie Folk band ‘Lady Luck’.

Shilong Ye was a top music graduate from Narrabundah College before studying violin and viola at the ANU School of Music.

A highly accomplished multi-instrumentalist, he served as the principal violist of the Canberra Youth Orchestra for three years, completed his Master of Music Studies in Conducting at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.

He is an award-winning conductor and has conducted and performed at major venues across Australia, including the Sydney Opera House.

Cellist, Samuel Payne, trained at the Sydney Conservatorium and at the Australian National Academy of Music. A regular with the Canberra Symphony Orchestra, his career highlights include touring India as part of the Australian World Orchestra, and studying directly under the world-famous Borodin String Quartet, Australian String Quartet, Goldener String Quartet and the Tinalley Quartet.

The arts council is especially excited to be hosting the Grevillea Quartet because the fourth of its number is locally based musician, Julia Horneman.

Born into the prominent musical Horneman family, Julia began her training on various instruments at the age of seven and developed into a highly versatile multi-instrumentalist and vocalist. She was a long-time core player across the Canberra Youth Orchestra network and Australian Orchestra Camps.

Today, Julia maintains deep connections to the regional and national orchestral scenes, playing viola with the Canberra Symphony Orchestra, and across elite ensembles encompassing a wide range of genres, notably the Canberra Pops Orchestra, Riverina Chamber Orchestra and the Forrest National Chamber Orchestra.

Tickets for the Grevillea Quartet’s ‘Danza and Debussy’ recital are available from the Fabric Salon (cash only) and at the door (cash and card).

As always with arts council presentations, school students are welcome to attend at no cost; and the recital will be followed by a delicious afternoon tea together with the artists.