"fluid and energetic... uncommon eloquence"
New York Times

"... the New Zealanders’ confidence as ensemble players permits a flexible approach; the rhythmic momentum is never destroyed, but bends a little so that the characters of the different motifs can be enhanced."
Gramophone Magazine

"impressive...the New Zealanders played Bartok's wartime 2nd String Quartet, staking out a respectable stylistic middle ground that acknowledged the music's astringency but also it's unlikely lyricism."
New York Times

"Each New Zealander played with a gorgeous, warm string tone, crystal-clear intonation, precise attacks, and a wide dynamic range. They brought out all the good-natured humor in the piece.... a truly inspired performance..."
Classical Voice of North Carolina

"Detailed and confident readings from the impressive New Zealand String Quartet... their strong sense of internal balance allows them to bring out many telling details that often go unnoticed" Gramophone Magazine [pdf]

"String lovers might be forgiven these days if they think they've died and gone to Quartet Heaven after yesterday's concert by the New Zealand String Quartet…. The concert ended with a superb account of Schubert's finest quartet, the No. 15 in G major. There was scarcely a misstep in the entire performance and the slow movement was profoundly beautiful."
Ottawa Citizen

"The quartet had the virtuosity to handle the passionate outbursts in the first and fifth movements and the wit to exploit the playful dance parodies of the second and fourth."
Minneapolis Star-Tribune

"The luscious, velvet sound of this group was apparent from the opening phrases of its first selections..."
Worcester Telegram & Gazette

"Gossamer without being merely glossy, the string quartet’s intricate sonic patterns explored the depths of human emotions crisply, tenderly and, always with great subtlety."
News Journal, Daytona Beach

"The absolutely perfect ensemble, the outstanding technical skills and the passionate playing ... made the concert an extraordinary experience."
Rheinische Post, Germany

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Video: Beethoven

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Video: Jack Body, 3 Transcriptions (New Zealand composition)
 
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The quartet has a long relationship with the Naxos recording label, which has released it's complete set of Mendelssohn Quartets in honor of the recent Mendelssohn anniversary, and has just started a three-year Brahms recording project for the Naxos label. ; and with the Atoll label, on which works of New Zealand composers Psathas, Harris, Body, Norris have been recorded, along with the works of Bartok and Dvorak. Link to full discography.

The 2013 year is off to an energetic start with the Adam Chamber Music Festival and the Adam Summer School and will then include residencies in Australia, a Homage to Britten tour, a debut tour to Sweden and an exciting new collaborative project in Beijing.

Sought-after for their imaginative and varied programming, the quartet is known for its revelatory performances of the standard classical quartet repertoire and their exciting realizations of newer works from contemporary composers, many from New Zealand. The quartet's tour programs include the Schubert two cello quintet, with Naumburg Award Winning cellist Clancy Newman, and the clarinet quintets of Gilliland, Mozart and Brahms with renowned clarinetist James Campbell. 

The Quartet has recently toured through Korea, Mexico, and returned to London's Wigmore Hall as part of a tour of England and Europe. Recent U.S. tours have spanned the distance from Hawaii to New Hampshire, and featured engagements in Los Angeles, San Antonio, New York, Cleveland, Buffalo and Washington, DC, where the quartet has appeared at the National Gallery of Art, the Corcoran Gallery of Art, the National Academy of Sciences and the Library of Congress in successive seasons.

While at the Library of Congress in 2009 the quartet was joined by Richard Nunns in performance of New Zealand composer Gillian Whitehead's composition Hine-pu-te-hue. Written for the quartet and taonga puoro performed by Nunns, the work is named for the Maori Goddess of peace. Hine-pu-te-hue features several of the taonga puoro which are made of gourds -- the poi awhiowhio, which opens the piece, is swung around the head, the large hue puru hau is blown across the open neck, while the koauau ponga ihu (a nose flute) closes the piece.

In addition to their unique status in the performance of original New Zealand compositions, this remarkable quartet has been hailed for their performances of the Beethoven Quartet cycle. They offered the Bartok cycle (which they have recorded) in the 2005-2006 season, as part of the observance of the fiftieth anniversary of Bartok's death. Their repertoire is wide and varied, and features the standard classical literature and the works of our time, including compositions by New Zealand composers. The quartet has premiered more than 20 works by New Zealand composers and continue to explore and enhance that repertoire. The Quartet has been awarded three years sole performing rights to Zoltán Székely's recently discovered 1937 string quartet. Székely, a composition student of Kodály, was Bartók's long-time sonata partner and leader of the Hungarian String Quartet. Their recording of Székely's quartet is available on the Atoll label, paired with the Dvorak Quartet in E flat, opus 51.

The group has been featured on North America's popular public radio program St Paul Sunday, and has recorded for Deutsche Welle, CBC in Canada, and Australia's ABC, as well as regularly appearing on Radio New Zealand's Concert FM.

As dedicated teachers, the New Zealand String Quartet is in residence at Victoria University of Wellington and have established the highly regarded Adam Summer Chamber Music School for the country's most accomplished string and piano students. In North America, the quartet has been guest faculty at the Banff Centre, Quartet Fest West, and the Quartet Program at Bucknell University.