Artists:
Colin Scobie violin
George Smith violin
Elliott Perks viola
Duncan Strachan cello
Haydn Quartet in C, Op.20 No.2
Maxwell Quartet Folk music of Scotland
Eleanor Alberga new work
Beethoven Quartet in C, Op.59 No.3
The Maxwell Quartet combines a refined approach to classical works with a passion for its own folk heritage and a commitment to expanding the string quartet repertoire through wide-ranging projects. Friends since they met playing in youth orchestras in Scotland, the players’ tight bond shows through in compelling musical interpretations and their joyous communication with audiences. Strongly connected to its own Scottish roots, the group often performs classical repertoire and new music alongside folk-inspired works.
The quartet performs at UK venues such as Wigmore Hall, Purcell Room, Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh, and Perth Concert Hall, and across Europe, including at Berlin Konzerthaus, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Tivoli Copenhagen, Muziekgebouw Amsterdam, and Rheingau, Just Classik, Wonderfeel, Lammermuir, and St Magnus festivals. Since its debut American tour in 2019, which sold out venues in New York, Florida, California and Washington, the quartet has toured the US annually. In the 2025–26 season it makes its debuts at Carnegie Hall and The Frick Collection in New York.
The group formed officially in 2010 as postgraduate students at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, and a year later were named as Residency Artists for Enterprise Music Scotland, 2011–13. They have since held residencies at Oxford University, Perth Concert Hall, Music at Paxton and the Lammermuir Festival. They founded their own Loch Shiel festival in the West Highlands of Scotland, curated a concert series at Guardswell Farm in Perthshire, and serve as Artistic Directors of the Mendelssohn on Mull Festival. The quartet studied with the Endellion Quartet through a ChamberStudio mentorship programme at King’s Place and privately with Hatto Beyerle, founding member of the Alban Berg Quartet, in Hanover.
