• The explanation, then second performance of the Tornyai made it much more approachable. Well done! And the Schubert! We came especially to hear it and you were splendid. Many thanks

    Concertgoer, Palmerston North, 4/10/12

  • Did I find any cause for complaint? Yes, actually, I did – they didn’t encore the Brahms. But isn’t that the sign of an exceptional recital, that you send your audience away wishing they could have heard it all again?

    Paul Serotsky, Seen and Heard International

  • This was a most engaging performance, full of vitality, expressive intensity and a great commitment to the music, ensuring that the evening was a real joy for the audience throughout

    Stephen Fisher, Manawatu Standard

  • Both muscularity and delicacy were made ours to relish.

    Peter Mechen, Middle C

  • The five played with enormous energy, consummate delicacy, with an intuitive collaboration and infectious passion that captured both the quintet’s fire and its tragic beauty. It brought a tear to the eye

    Louis Pierard, The Hook review website

  • I couldn’t really hope to hear a more engaging, more deeply touching, and more understanding reading of this incredible music. Very great honour to the Aroha Quartet and to Andrew Joyce for giving us such a memorable experience

    Peter Mechen, Middle C

  • Polish and energy

    Lindis Taylor, Middle C

Concerts

See details of upcoming performances by the Aroha String Quartet.

Featured
Olveston Historic Home, Dunedin – Quartet Journey: Around the World in 60 Minutes
Mar 18
Olveston Historic Home, Dunedin – Quartet Journey: Around the World in 60 Minutes

Tickets $50.

Programme: Quartet Journey: Around the World in 60 Minutes

  • Haydn – String Quartet in E-flat Op 64 No 6

  • Shostakovich – Elegy & Polka

  • Carey – Toccatina

  • Yu Xunfa – Morning in the Miao Mountains

  • Tsintsadze – Miniatures

  • Piazzolla – Tango Ballet

Olveston Events.

Oamaru Opera House - Quartet Journey: Around the World in 90 Minutes
Mar 19
Oamaru Opera House - Quartet Journey: Around the World in 90 Minutes

Tickets $35/$30/$10.

Programme: Quartet Journey: Around the World in 90 Minutes

  • Haydn – String Quartet in E-flat Op 64 No 6

  • Shostakovich – Elegy & Polka

  • Turina – Bullfighter’s Prayer

  • Carey – Toccatina

  • Yu Xunfa – Morning in the Miao Mountains

  • Tsintsadze – Miniatures

  • Piazzolla – Tango Ballet

Oamaru Opera House event.

Lake Wanaka Centre – Quartet Journey: Around the World in 90 Minutes
Mar 20
Lake Wanaka Centre – Quartet Journey: Around the World in 90 Minutes

Tickets $40.

Programme: Quartet Journey: Around the World in 90 Minutes

  • Haydn – String Quartet in E-flat Op 64 No 6

  • Shostakovich – Elegy & Polka

  • Turina – Bullfighter’s Prayer

  • Carey – Toccatina

  • Yu Xunfa – Morning in the Miao Mountains

  • Tsintsadze – Miniatures

  • Piazzolla – Tango Ballet

Lake Wanaka Center event.

Pathways Presbyterian Church, Palmerston North - Quartet Journey: Around the World in 90 Minutes
Mar 27
Pathways Presbyterian Church, Palmerston North - Quartet Journey: Around the World in 90 Minutes

Tickets $35/$30/$70/$10.

Programme: Quartet Journey: Around the World in 90 Minutes

  • Haydn – String Quartet in E-flat Op 64 No 6

  • Shostakovich – Elegy & Polka

  • Turina – Bullfighter’s Prayer

  • Carey – Toccatina

  • Yu Xunfa – Morning in the Miao Mountains

  • Tsintsadze – Miniatures

  • Piazzolla – Tango Ballet

St Andrew’s, Wellington - ASQ International Music Academy Tutors’ Concert
Jul 15
St Andrew’s, Wellington - ASQ International Music Academy Tutors’ Concert

Gold coin koha.

Programme: TBC

See all upcoming Concerts

Programmes

The Aroha Quartet is performing two programmes in 2026.

Quartet Journey: Around the World in 90 Minutes

Buckle up and travel around the globe with the Aroha String Quartet. We’ll have stopovers to sample the music of seven different countries on five continents - Europe, Asia, South America, North America and Zealandia!

We begin our journey in Austria with a sunny, sparkling piece by the father of the string quartet, Josef Haydn. We then travel overland to Russia for Shostakovich’s Elegy & Polka and backtrack to Spain for Turina’s evocative Bullfighter’s Prayer. Exhausted by all that travelling, we take a break back in New Zealand with the lovely Toccatina by Ross Carey.

After interval we fly to China for an arrangement of the famous piece Morning in the Miao Mountains composed by flautist Yu Xunfa. This music depicts the bird song in the forests of the Miao Mountains and the calls of the villagers in the fields. In Eastern Europe we then make a stop in for some selections from Miniatures by Georgian composer Sulkhan Tsintsadze.

No world tour would be complete without a visit to South America, so we end our trip in Argentina with Tango Ballet by tango-master Astor Piazzolla.

As your tour guides we’ll make sure to introduce you to the pieces and the composers. Join us for an exciting musical journey!

Heart

Playing from the heart (but not by heart!), the Aroha Quartet presents a programme of heart-warming music from the heart of the chamber music repertoire.

We begin with a sunny, sparkling piece by the father of the string quartet, Josef Haydn: his String Quartet in E-flat Op 64 No 6. The first half finishes with Barber’s only string quartet.

American composer Samuel Barber wrote in 1936 to a friend “I have just finished the slow movement of my quartet today (and) it’s a knockout”. Like a huge inbreath and outbreath, this amazing piece (often performed by string orchestra as the Barber Adagio) is flanked by two wonderful outer movements.

The second half begins with the lovely Toccatina by New Zealander Ross Carey. Our final piece, Beethoven’s glorious String Quartet No 10 in E-flat, covers the range of human moods, from tranquil calm, to restlessness, heartfelt outbursts and resolute determination. Its nickname, ‘Harp’, comes from the striking pizzicato section in the first movement.

News

News
ASQ International Music Academy 2026 applications open

Applications are now open for our twelfth ASQ Academy, to be held in Wellington from 13-18 July.

The 2026 Academy flyer and brochure and the 2025 timetable are available via the Academy page on this website here.

Applications can be made online via this link. Applications close on Sunday 15 March.

Read More →
ASQ violist Zhongxian Jin leaves the quartet

Kim, our longstanding violist, decided at the end of 2025 to leave the quartet due to pressures created by his increased teaching workload. Kim was one of the two remaining original members of the group and we miss him very much and wish him the very best for his teaching career.

Read More →