VOICES BETWEEN WORLDS

NICOLE BRADY Ricochet * 

MAURICE RAVEL String Quartet in F major ^

ERIC AVERY Wirringintungiyil ^**

^ These works comprise the St Johns Southgate 60 min concert program

* Commissioned by Flinders Quartet as part of Ascend 2024

** World premiere

ST JOHNS SOUTHGATE • THURSDAY 14 MAY, 1PM  (approx 60 min performance)

MONTSALVAT BARN GALLERY • SUNDAY 17 MAY, 2.30PM (approx 120 min performance including interval)

PRIMROSE POTTER SALON • MONDAY 18 MAY, 7PM (approx 120 min performance including interval)

Visit FQ Digital to relive the works in this concert program, as well as bonus FQ Discover videos.

“One of the greatest joys of playing in a string quartet is the nurturing of connection — between each other, with our audiences and within the wider community. In 2026, we are both honoured and thrilled to be collaborating for the very first time with Ngiyampaa, Yuin, Bundjalung and Gumbaynggir artist Eric Avery, exploring our connection with nature and the environment.

Drawing on his family’s custodial songs, Eric continues a time-honoured legacy of storytelling through both music and dance. When we first heard Eric perform, we were profoundly moved by the soulful nature of his musical voice. His performances often combine his violin playing with singing in the Ngiyampaa language, forging a powerful link between his cultural heritage and his audience. Although we don’t yet know how the new work will sound, Eric’s artistry speaks from the heart, illuminating the transformative and healing power of music. With collaboration at the very heart of the Flinders’ identity, we approach this journey with Eric with the utmost respect and joy.

Connections of a different kind are explored by one of our Ascend program’s participants Nicole Brady in her debut string quartet Ricochet. Nicole brings an intelligent perspective to her compositional work having worked at the intersection of design, music and new technology. Exploring how to bring her unique vision to life within the language of the string quartet was a rich and creative process, and we are excited to now share Ricochet with our audience. The chance to perform Ravel’s iconic 1903 string quartet - a work that directly inspired Ricochet - alongside Nicole’s work was just too tempting to resist!”

ELIZABETH SELLARS, VIOLIN

“Together with my friends from Flinders Quartet, I will be creating a through-composed journey with song, dance, rhythm, melody and harmony as we build a work reflecting a yearning for environmental protection, LGBTQI resilience and new ways of listening.

The Ravel String Quartet creates an illusion of stretching time. I have always been inspired by Ravel’s use of texture and tempo to create a tension and release in the music, creating various illusions of space and time changing and melding. In the Australian desert at night, we see the sky as a giant dome and the land as a vast, expansive space that echoes through time with the music illustrated in the songs of the ancient Ngiyampaa people. It is through the techniques of composition from Ravel and my ancestors that we can glimpse what movement emanates across different styles and forms illustrating different ideas of flow and musical tension and release.”

ERIC AVERY, COMPOSER AND PERFORMER

VIEW PROGRAM 1: FROM SILENCE AND SNOW
VIEW PROGRAM 2: VOICES BETWEEN WORLDS