Recently the Aroha String Quartet marked the end of an era with the departure of Beiyi Xue, who has been the quartet's second violin since its inception in 2004. The rest of the quartet thank her for her amazing contribution in both a musical and a personal sense and wish her all the very best for her future chamber music-making activities.

2011 ends on a high note! On Sunday 20 November we head off to Mudgee, New South Wales to prepare for performances in the prestigious Huntington Estate Winery Music Festival (http://www.huntingtonestate.com.au). The festival programme is created by Musica Viva Australia and is held in the beautiful Huntington Estate Vineyard. In addition to the music there is gourmet food and great wines.

The Aroha String Quartet are champions of new music and are always ready to try something new, but performing a world premiere in a steam railway museum was adventurous even by their standards! When the quartet was in Austria for the International Summer Academy last August they gave the first performance of a work especially written for them by the young Hungarian composer Peter Tornyai.