help the Next Generation Take the Stage
FQ Pathways is working.
Help us take it further in 2027.
FQ Pathways is Flinders Quartet's initiative for developing the next generation of chamber musicians and composers, connecting emerging string quartets, young musicians, and up-and-coming composers with mentorship, performance opportunities, and a genuine way into a career many would otherwise struggle to find.
Earlier this year, we asked our community to help us establish the foundations for it, and we’re incredibly grateful to everyone who has supported the initiative so far, and helped us take this work forward. This November, we get to show you what that collective support has already made possible, and warmly invite you to be part of what comes next.
FQ Sessions: the first fruition of FQ Pathways
On 28 and 29 November, Flinders Quartet presents FQ Sessions, four concerts at Library at the Dock where we share the stage with the emerging ensembles we've mentored throughout the year, including Cedar Collective, MYO Quartet and Quatuor Fabriqués celebrating the great string quartet repertoire alongside new Australian compositional voices.
This is FQ Pathways in its first real outing: not a plan on paper, but the next generation standing on a professional stage bringing their career ambitions to life.
“We have had the amazing opportunity for the last few months to learn from the incredible Flinders Quartet and it’s thanks to donations like this that makes it possible and gives us an industry for us to have careers in.”
If you've already given this year, thank you. FQ Sessions exists because of support like yours, and this weekend performance series is a direct result of it. We hope you'll join us there.
If you haven't given yet or wanted to support further, there's still time to be part of this. FQ Pathways spans composer development, pre-professional mentoring, and regional residencies reaching well beyond Melbourne.
The 2026 FQ Sessions is just the beginning.
With funding now confirmed from The Ian Potter Foundation, FQ Pathways is entering its next stage, launching Australia's first paid residency pathway for graduating string quartet musicians. Our aim is for FQ Sessions to return every year and grow alongside it: more string quartets, more commissioned composers, greater regional reach.
Your gift helps us bring FQ Sessions back in 2027 and beyond, bigger and better resourced, and keeps FQ Pathways growing for the musicians who need it next.
“In the future, donations like yours and from the community are what provide the possibilities for us to eventually give back in the same way that the Flinders Quartet has given to us and promote the arts.”