Melbourne youth quartet
The Melbourne Youth Quartet (MYQ) are a string quartet based in Melbourne, Australia. They consist of two violins, a viola and a 'cello and also have a manager who organises gigs for them to perform. All players are under the age of 18 and have performed at many venues throughout their short history. The players consist of: Simone, Loreen, Robert and Philip who are violin, violin, viola and 'cello players respectively.
The Melbourne Youth Quartet were originally named the 'Fire On Strings' quartet but changed their name four months after being formed. One of the violinists, Simone, formed the quartet at the school where all the players hail from in North Balwyn in August 2006.
Philip (the cellist) then created a presence for the quartet on the web by creating a blog and informative website.
Their first performance was for the Boroondara Council at a Christmas function of that year. They played Christmas Carols with a well-known opera singer as well as The Famous 'Canon in D' by Pachebel. They were very well received and were congratulated by the councillor who was present, [...] Menting, for their performance.
After the first performance however, the violist, Carol, left the quartet. To fill the place, it took a month to find a suitable replacement, Robert.
Their next performance was at the Boroondara Farmers Market, again by the request of the Boroondara Council. Unfortunately, Loreen was unable to make the performance due to other MusicAL commitments and Robert was also forced to depart early due to other musical commitments. The quartet (or trio in this case) played a variety of classical pieces from 'Eine Klein Nachmusik' to 'Air from the water music'. The pieces were well received with the president of the Maling Road Business Association making a request for the quartet to perform at Maling Road which the quartet accepted.
The Maling Road gig was unable to be attended by all members except for Simone who performed solo at Maling Road a few months later.
Their most recent performance has been at the Kew Court House 'Emerging Talent' concert on December 9 2007. Simone was unable to attend due to other commitments. They were beset by logistical problems and the absence of music stands at the venue but still managed to perform 'Eine Klein Nachmusik' and 'Danube Waves'.
They were recently featured in an EDition of 'The Sutton' community newspaper.