Date: Sunday 26th APRIL 2026: 4PM

Tickets include Debra’s interval TEA & CAKE!

Venue: BROADSTONE METHODIST CHURCH, 210 Lower Blandford Road BH18 8DP

“Voices in Conversation” – Presented by the “Slate String Quartet” – critically acclaimed rising chamber music stars.

Broadstone’s own professional recital series continues this Spring 🌷🎶….and we are delighted to welcome the Slate String Quartet from London to the Broadstone Music Series as the closing concert to our ‘Power of the String’ cycle. This programme will include Shostakovich’s 2nd quartet and Haydn opus 20 and more…..some of our youth Camerata guest string players will appear in the programme after a workshop with the quartet too.

Programme:

Haydn String Quartet no 2 op 20 in C major “The Sun”

Shostakovich String Quartet no 2 in A major op 68

Jefferson Friedman – String quartet no 2, “Quarter Notes = 120”

Mozart String quartet in C major K157, (Alongside PSYM Youth Camerata Musicians)

Our special String quartet cycle has been showcasing the diversity of the music available for the string quartet. This series has taken us from the big screens of Hollywood in autumn 2025 to the quietest corners of the human heart. We’ve seen the string quartet transform from a cinematic powerhouse into a vehicle for Shostakovich’s private grief and Debussy’s shimmering dreams. We again look to Shostakovich in this programme, as we have been marking his 50th anniversary death, but in this 2d quartet has a much more symphonic scale in sharp contrast to the Quartet No 7, heard in our previous concert.

The Slate Quartet is a professional string quartet formed in 2022 at the Royal Academy of Music in London. The ensemble is known for its dynamic programming, blending core classical repertoire with contemporary and lesser-known works and they have performed at major venues and events including the Royal Festival Hall, Petworth Festival, and Leicester Cathedral. As active collaborators, the quartet has worked closely with leading composers such as Brett Dean, whose String Quartet No. 1 “Eclipse” they recorded for Luminate Records, released in January 2025.

Their repertoire spans composers from Haydn, Beethoven, and Shostakovich to modern voices like Philip Glass, Caroline Shaw, and Brett Dean. The quartet is particularly noted for its thematic programming, interdisciplinary collaborations with visual artists, and ongoing mentorship from established industry professionals.
The Slate Quartet also maintains an active online presence, sharing performances and projects via platforms such as Instagram and Spotify.

The award winning viola player Carys Barnes is taking up a role as a sub principal viola in the BSO during this April. 

Advisable to book tickets online mainly for catering purposes…

Further programme notes – This is a seriously exciting programme – full of contrast, personality, and emotional punch, this feels like a journey across centuries, showing just how expressive and versatile the string quartet can be!

Starting with String Quartet in C major, Op. 20 No. 2 by Joseph Haydn – this is Haydn at his most inventive. The Op. 20 set is often called the “Sun” quartets, and for good reason: they radiate energy and originality. No. 2 is full of wit and surprise, with that wonderfully dramatic opening and a finale that pushes into darker, almost stormy territory. It’s Haydn redefining what a string quartet can be, not just polite background music, but a real conversation between four equal voices. You can practically hear him laying the groundwork for everything that follows in the programme.

Then they jump forward to String Quartet No. 2, Quarter Notes = 120 by Jefferson Friedman, and the sound world shifts completely. The title alone hints at something precise and driving, and the music absolutely delivers, rhythmic, propulsive, and hypnotic at times. There’s a raw, almost physical energy here, with textures that feel both modern and immediate. It’s the kind of piece that grabs your attention and doesn’t let go, showing how the quartet form is still evolving and speaking in a contemporary voice.

And then, String Quartet No. 2 in A major, Op. 68 by Dmitri Shostakovich. This is where everything expands emotionally. Written during World War II, it’s huge in scale and intensity; almost symphonic in its scope. You get everything here: bold, declamatory gestures, eerie stillness, biting sarcasm, and deep, searching lyricism. The famous “Recitative and Romance” movement feels incredibly intimate, like a private confession, before the finale drives forward with relentless energy. It’s powerful, unsettling, and completely gripping.

What makes this programme so compelling is how it traces a line: from Haydn inventing the quartet as a form of conversation, through Friedman pushing its rhythmic and textural boundaries, to Shostakovich using it as a vehicle for profound emotional and historical expression. Three completely different musical languages, but all united by the same four instruments, constantly reinvented.

This is the kind of programme that keeps both players and audience on edge, in the best possible way.

We hope to see you there on 26th April 4pm!