Music Janet Wilson Quartet premieres Australian work The Enso String Quartet. Llewellyn Hall, ANU School of Music.
Thursday,   June 9, at 7pm.
musicaviva.com.au/Enso or ticketek.com.au or 1800 688 482.
The Enso String Quartet, from left, Richard Belcher (cello), Maureen Nelson (violin), Melissa Reardon (viola) and Ken Hamao (violin).
'When you do have a change it can be quite invigorating and a lot of new ideas come into the group.' 
Cellist Richard Belcher T he Enso String Quartet, described by Classical Voice as "one of the eminent string quartets of our era", arrived in Australia at the end of   May to begin their first tour for Musica Viva, starting with the Ken Tribe Tribute Concert at Sydney's City Recital Hall.
They reach Canberra to play at Llewellyn Hall on Thursday,   June 9.
Since playing to rapturous audiences at the Huntington Music Festival in 2011, second violinist Ken Hamao has replaced John Marcus. Cellist Richard Belcher and first violin Maureen Nelson were founding members of the quartet which formed at Yale University in 1999 and violist Melissa Reardon joined about 10 years ago.
"We had a wonderful time at Huntington and we really can't wait to get back to Australia," Belcher says.
"It's a big change to have new members in an ensemble because what we do reflects the personalities of each member of the group.
There's a lot to take into account and when you do have a change it can be quite invigorating and a lot of new ideas come into the group.
We try to incorporate that because we want to really reflect all our musical thoughts. I think that's the only way it can be."
The Canberra audience will hear Program 1 of the two programs being offered by the quartet on this tour.
The world premiere of a work written specially for the quartet by Australian composer Brenton Broadstock, and inspired by the journey of a child refugee to find haven in Australia, will open the concert.
"We're loving this piece," Belcher says. "It has a little bit of everything in it. There's definitely some virtuosic writing but also a lot of simplicity which really reflects what Brenton was going for in a wonderful way; a sort of musical journey going through some difficult and very challenging sections and then coming to a place of comfort and a real feeling of home."
Beethoven's String Quartet No.10 in E- flat Major, op.75, the much-loved Harp quartet, displays, according to Belcher, a real sense of Beethoven working through things, the hushed sound of the opening leading into a majestic first movement.
"It's such inspired writing," Belcher says, "and, of course, that's where it gets its name, The Harp from the arpeggiated pizzicato section that gets passed to all the players. But while we're playing that, near the end, the first violin has an incredibly virtuosic passage and then the other voices have this stunning melody. We never get tired of playing this. It's been a winner for a long time now."
For the second half of the concert the quartet introduces a Spanish flavour with pieces by the Spanish composer Joaquin Turina and Argentinian composer Alberto Ginastera.
Turina's Serenata for String Quartet, op.87 is described by Melissa Reardon as "atmospheric, with lots of colour and a little bit sexy."
Belcher says of Ginastera's String Quartet No.2, op.26, "It's a really dynamic piece - very athletic and virtuosic writing. There's a really cool arc to the whole piece."
He explains how Ginastera was fascinated by the folk music of the gauchos of Argentina and influenced by this to write the rustic and energetic music of the first and last of the five movements, while the second and fourth movements are more reflective and intimate.
"And the central movement has all sorts of fascinating sounds: pizzicato with the fingernails instead of the flesh of the fingertips, and ponticello, which is playing right by the bridge which creates a sort of fantastical sound world. You're getting a little bit of everything in this piece."
Ravel's String Quartet in F major, which was in Enso's first program as a string quartet when the members were all students at Yale, sadly won't be on the Canberra program. It's a great favourite to which the ensemble have come back many times over the years.
Belcher is modest about the praise that has followed the quartet around the world.
"We just try to plug away. We love playing and if you're true to yourself you just work together and hold to your standards." He says the members of the ensemble are their own harshest critics, "in a healthy way.
I've learned so much from my colleagues, more than I could possibly have hoped for from a single teacher. You spend so much time rehearsing together and you absorb one another's ideas, some of which, as a cellist, I might never have thought of otherwise."