Chamber Concert – The Maxwell Quartet

1st Prizewinner and Audience Prizewinner at the 9th Trondheim International Chamber Music Competition in 2017, and hailed as “brilliantly fresh, unexpected and exhilarating” by The Scottish Herald, and “superb storytelling by four great communicators” by The Strad Magazine, the Maxwell Quartet is now firmly regarded as one of Britain’s finest string quartets,  with a strong connection to their folk music heritage and a commitment to bringing together wide-ranging projects and programmes to expand the string quartet repertoire.

After their success at Trondheim in 2017, the quartet’s 2017-18 season saw concert engagements across Europe, including performances in the Tivoli Concert Hall Series, the Amsterdam String Quartet Biennale, Stavanger Festival, Trondheim Chamber Music Festival, Schiermonnikoog and Wonderfeel Festivals in the Netherlands, Lammermuir Festival and Music at Paxton in Scotland, and more. Collaborations include working with the Danish String Quartet to perform Octets as well as collaborating on Scottish and Danish folk music, and working on a new commission for clarinet quintet with renowned composer/clarinettist Mark Simpson. The Quartet’s debut CD, featuring string quartets by Haydn alongside their own compositions based on Scottish traditional folk music, is due for release in early 2019 on Linn Records. 

The Quartet is formed of four close friends, who grew up playing folk and classical music together in youth orchestras and music schools across Scotland. The group officially began in 2010 at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, where its founding members met as postgraduate students. In 2011, the Maxwell Quartet was selected as the Royal Conservatoire’s Young Artists in Residence. The quartet was also named as Residency Artists for Enterprise Music Scotland 2011-2013, which saw several acclaimed concert tours over their two-year tenure. Performing widely across Scotland, the quartet has established a reputation for delighting audiences with their “unaffected enthusiasm” (North Highland Times) and their “panache and conviction” (Strathearn Herald). The quartet has held residencies at Oxford University, Perth Concert Hall and many chamber music festivals across the UK, including their own festival Loch Shiel in the west highlands of Scotland. 

Passionate about collaborating with musicians and other art forms, the quartet has worked with a global roster of artists and institutions including Cryptic Theatre, Wintour’s Leap, Royal Ballet School, Lunir, cinematographer Herman Kolgen and many more. The quartet has also worked with some of the UK’s most dynamic composers including commissions by Anna Meredith, Tom Harrold, Mark Simpson and Colin Broom. In addition to a busy concert diary, the quartet regularly feature in broadcasts for BBC Radio 3 and BBC Radio Scotland, as well as regularly giving schools workshops and concerts for children.

The Maxwell Quartet has studied with the Endellion Quartet (previous performers at Haddo Arts Festival) through a Chamber Studio mentorship programme at King’s Place, and privately with Hatto Beyerle, founding member of the Alban Berg Quartet and director of ECMA, in Hanover, Germany. Other mentors include Miguel da Silva (Quatuor Ysaye), Erich Hobarth (Quatuor Mosaiques), Krysztof Chorzelski (Belcea Quartet), Donald Grant (Elias) and Alasdair Tait. 

Born in Edinburgh in 1991, Colin Scobie is already established as one of the most creative and compelling violinists and chamber musicians of his generation. He has performed as concerto soloist  to critical acclaim across Europe and further afield, with orchestras including Musica Alta Ripa, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, La Serenissima, Scottish Ensemble and the Covent Garden Chamber Orchestra. He has broadcast for BBC Radio 3 and Radio Scotland numerous times and collaborated with many eminent musicians including Marcia Crayford, Stephen Orton, Martino Tirimo, Moray Welsh, Colin Carr, and Alexander Hohenthal.

In 2010 Colin was appointed 2nd violin of the Fitzwilliam Quartet with whom he performed extensively for 2 years, touring Europe, Africa and America. His desire to explore the possibilities of the quartet repertoire and to lead a young and dynamic quartet led to him joining the Maxwell Quartet as first violin in 2013. Colin began playing the violin at the age of eight,  studying at St Mary’s Music School, Edinburgh, before going on to the Royal College of Music in London, studying with Dona Lee Croft and Lucy Russell.

George began learning to play the violin at the age of ten. He studied at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland with William Chandler and Ruth Crouch. Whilst there he played in masterclasses with Midori, Christian Tetzlaff,Ilya Gringolts, Andrew Manze and Barnabas Keleman. He has performed across the UK and further afield as a chamber musician, soloist and Scots fiddle player. Notable performances include winning prizes in the Glenfiddich Fiddle Championship, performing James MacMillan’s ‘From Ayrshire’ for Solo Violin and Orchestra under the baton of the composer, and most recently performing in the Cuillin Mountains on the Isle of Skye.

George works with many other groups in Scotland including the Scottish Ensemble, BBCSSO and Grit Orchestra.He regularly works with non-classical musicians, collaborating with composers including Anna Meredith and Samoyed. Along with this he teaches at various institutions across Scotland and is regularly invited to give workshops and masterclasses on Scottish music. George performs on a Bernardus Calcanius violin which dates from c.1740. and is extremely grateful to the Harrison-Frank Family Foundation for this generous loan.

Elliott studied at the Yehudi Menuhin School, where he studied with Suzie Meszaros, Rosemary Warren-Green and Lioutsia Ibragimova. Elliott was a foundation scholar at the Royal College of Music in London where he studied with Andriy Viytovych.

Elliott has taken part in numerous concerts as a soloist and chamber musician, performing in most London venues, including The Wigmore Hall, The Royal festival Hall, The Royal Albert hall, The Queen Elizabeth Hall, The Purcell Room, Sadlers Wells, Bradford Cathedral, Snape Maltings, Dorking Halls, The Cadogan Hall and numerous concerts in the Menuhin Hall. Recent engagements include playing Viola Viola by George Benjamin in the Purcell room and Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante with Violinist, Oliver Cave and the Audeat Camerata in Hampstead. He has performed as guest principal with orchestras including Manchester Camerata, and Scottish Chamber Orchestra.

Born in Dundee in 1987, Duncan grew up in Lochaber, in the west highlands of Scotland, where he began learning cello with Audrey Scott at the age of 4. Duncan then went to St Mary’s Music School in Edinburgh, learning with Pat Hair. He subsequently read music at St Catherine’s College, Oxford where he was a Leask Music Scholar and an Academic Scholar. He studied cello with Colin Carr, before continuing his studies at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland with Robert Irvine.

As a chamber musician Duncan has worked with a wide range of ensembles prominent figures including Fidelio Trio, Red Note, Florin Trio, Lana Trotovsek, Ilya Gringolts, David Watkin and Benjamin Grosvenor. He has also worked with composers including Tom David Wilson, Simon Smith, Anna Meredith, Stuart MacRae, Rory Boyle, Michael Finnissy and many more to perform new works for cello.